The Fifth Rising
by freeworld
Summary: A young man finds himself waking up on an island in the sky with no memory of who he is or was. Sometimes the past is better left behind you. This is a Fanfic based on a free to play mmo called FlyFF. loosely based.
1. Strange Awakening

**Strange Awakening**

The sound and smell of the early morning air brought me to consciousness. I blinked my eyes sleepily open and took in the radiant light. My eyes stung as if this were the first time opening them in ages. My body felt sore as I sat up slowly. I spotted a bright blue butterfly fluttering about me, and watched as it came to land at my feet. The butterfly flapped its wings slowly while still resting on the end of my toe until my focus shifted from the butterfly, to what lay beyond it. I shot to my feet and scanned the area frantically. I attempted to take a step back, but my legs buckled. It was an island. However, it was an island hundreds of feet in the air!

_"What is going on here?" _I thought. _"What am I doing here? Where am I?"_

As I wracked my mind and memory for the answers, I heard a great creaking from behind me. I looked over my shoulder just in time to lay down flat and avoid being plowed into by a giant ship, sailing through the air a mere inches from my nose. I sat back up and watched on as a second ship slipped out of the clouds on a crash course with the first. As the first ship began bringing itself about, I noticed a large flag flapping in the winds. It was gold with a red shield sewn into the middle of it. I looked back to the other ship and saw that their own banner of a blue and white wolf, bearing its teeth, on a black backing, was being flown. The ships became parallel to one another, when suddenly bolts of fire, lightning, and shards of ice began rocketing from the smaller "wolf" ship to the other. The two ships were soon making an exchange of firepower, though noticeably the larger ship was having a greater effect.

A wave of flame rained down from the clouds onto the larger ship, and a second ship bearing the banner of the wolf sailed into view. It kept its distance above the large ship just enough to keep out of range for it to return fire. I thought that under the combined fire, the larger ship would surely lose this fight. Then there was a bright light…and I could barely make out a small golden ball hovering over the deck of the large ship. I began to strain my eyes to look more closely at it, when it exploded and blinded me for a moment. My eyes readjusted and I looked back at the battle. The large ship was now enveloped in a great golden sphere of light that the other two ship's attacks crashed into with no effect, like water on rocks.

There was movement toward the bottom rear of the shielded ship, and what looked like doors opened up. I could hardly make out dozens of small figures drop out, and then pick back up into the air on a course for the second wolf ship. The ship in turn attempted to concentrate some fire upon the approaching figures. In short time, the first wolf ship began to plummet toward the earth, leaving a trail of black smoke behind it. The second ship began to maneuver and climb back into the clouds in the opposite direction of the monstrous ship. The small figures started giving chase, but were called back by two bright red explosions over their flag ship.

I stood in awe of what I had just witnessed as the ship began to move south. Nothing was making sense. First, waking up on an island…in the sky no less, then my legs giving out and not working, and three ships begin destroying each other hundreds of miles in the air. I crawled toward the edge of the island and looked down.

_"How on earth am I going to get down from here?" _I thought.

"Hey there."

I craned my neck to see behind me, and was astonished to see a dozen people seemingly standing on air as well as another smaller ship behind them. At that point I would have gladly run if I thought my legs would work, or if there were anywhere to go. The man at the head of the group made a motion with his hand and the rest of the group quickly flew past me and downward towards the fallen ship, with their own following close behind. I watched as they swarmed about the wreckage like ants picking clean a fallen bird. I flipped over to face the leader, as he stepped off of his platform and onto my little island.

He was a tall man, with long black hair that partially covered up his dark eyes. He reached behind him and tapped the platform he was standing on twice. The platform glowed faintly and began to fold over on itself again and again. Once it was about a one inch square, the man picked it out of the air and attached it to the front of his belt.

"Now then, what are you doing out here?" The man asked, though for some reason, I couldn't answer, so he continued, "Right. Where are my manners? I am Nelo Rohe. The leader of The Scavengers, Flaris Branch. And your name would be?"

The question seemed like an easy one, and yet, when I tried to give the answer I found I didn't know it. I closed my eyes, trying to focus. The answer was there I knew it, could feel it. Harder I focused, deeper I dug until finally the sounds came on their own.

"Ch…Chen is my name."

"Chen eh? That's a pretty odd name. So, now that formalities are out of the way, you mind telling me what you're doing up here?"

"I…I don't know. I just woke up here."

"You just woke up here? Ok, well what about before that?"

I tried to remember anything, but couldn't.

"Nothing." I replied.

"Hmm…sounds like you have some sort of amnesia," Nelo came closer and looked me over quickly. "but you don't look injured or anything. I guess that kills my theory."

"What?"

"I just figured since you were out here alone, and no memory, that maybe you were dropped here by one of the pirate ships."

"Pirates?"

"Yeah. The Saint Morning Wolves. They're a pirate guild. Earlier they raided a trade ship and I thought they may have taken some prisoners. One of their ships apparently didn't make it. Then again, I guess if they had taken prisoners they wouldn't have just been destroyed like that. Pretty reckless of them to take on Cerand. Even with two ships, they should've known better."

"How did you know…"

"Oh, well we were watching the fight."

"But then, why didn't you help the other ship?"

"Why would we? Even if they needed the help, which they never did, our ship isn't designed for aerial battles. We're scavengers, like I said. Other people's conflicts aren't really any of our business. Our guild may have a base in Flaris, but that doesn't make us subjects of Flaris, or any of the other cities in which we're based."

One of the others came flying up to Nelo and said, "We're about done sir. Unfortunately there wasn't all that much we could take."

"All right, just finish the rest of the salvage and bring the ship up here."

"Sir?"

"We're giving this young man a ride to Flaris."

"Yes sir."

The other man flew off again. Moments later the small ship came up alongside the island and with the help of Nelo, I boarded the Scavenger's ship.

Nelo Rohe, the leader of the Flaris branch of Scavengers, escorted me about the ship, and introduced me to the sixteen crew members. He allowed me the rest of the trip to just wander about if I wanted, as he had business to take care of in the holding bay. He offered me the chance to join him, but so much of what he had been talking about this far made nearly no sense to me, so I politely declined. He seemed somewhat disappointed. I made my way to the deck of the ship. Upon opening the door upward, a cool breeze hit my face, refreshing my senses. As nice as Nelo and the crew were, the inside of the ship had a strangely familiar, yet unsettling smell to it. I went to the port side of the ship and peered over the side.

_"A ship in the air…amazing."_

My mind was still troubled. So little of this world appeared familiar to me. Could what Nelo said be true? Did I have amnesia? The answers were all there. I knew they were, they just had to be, but how to get to them was the problem. A popping sounds scattered my thoughts, and then I heard a voice.

"We'll be arriving in Flaris soon everyone, so get to your stations. It's a small load today so it looks like you'll all get a good amount of shore leave."

I could hear cheers coming from below. I looked to my right and spotted for the first time, the city that was our destination.


	2. The Magical City, Flaris

**The Magical City, Flaris**

Nelo and I looked upon the City of Flaris from a hill to the north west, overlooking the city, while the crew was unloading the ship's cargo and organizing it.

"There it is," Nelo said, "The City of Flaris."

"I have to admit, it's not what I expected."

"Oh?"

"With all the things I've seen in the past hour, I expected something…else. I don't know. Not this. Not wood and thatch worked houses with a small river running through it."

"I'm surprised you didn't mention that." Nelo said, pointing to a giant floating object just above the city that almost overshadowed all of it.

"Strangely it was just less surprising I guess. But now that you mention it…"

"That is Flaris' flying fortress, Bobor."

I saw at its center there was a flag that was identical to the one the large ship heldi in the battle with the two others.

"Hey Nelo, that flag there?"

"You recognize it right? Well, that's because they both belong to The Crimson Shield. It's the guild that is run by Flaris' queen, lady Cerand."

"You mentioned that name earlier, when talking about that battle."

"Yeah, that's because that was her personal ship, and her commanding it. While she is queen, she is also this lands personal guardian. Soon after the war, she redesigned the fortress and told the people that she would protect this land and its entire people with all her heart, soul, and body if need be. Some even speculate that's where the name Crimson Shield came from. She's kept her word. Anytime there's been a threat to Flaris she is the first one to meet it. She does not command soldiers into any situation she isn't willing to put herself into first. Even though we Scavengers are neutral, it is easy to see why the people of Flaris follow and look up to her. I don't think this world has ever known a leader as devoted to its people as she is."

I looked at Nelo as he spoke, and his face seemed to change slightly at the end of his story. I was going to ask what troubled him when we were interrupted.

"Sir Rohe, we're finished loading the parts onto the wagons."

"Good, we'll be right there. So, Chen, you ready to get a closer look at the city?"

Nelo turned and started toward the building behind us where the ship was docked. I looked back at the city once more then followed quickly after. Rounding the corner, I stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted four wagons full of scrap and people, each attached at the front to a pair of grey armored creatures. I looked up at Nelo who smiled.

"What? They're just peaky turtles. Don't worry about it. They're not dangerous, to us anyways. They've been raised and trained in captivity. Hop on."

We rode the wagon pulled by those creatures known as peaky turtles down a path from the hill that eventually led to the city. On the outskirts I could spot many strange winged purple creatures. Upon closer inspection it turned out that they all only had one eye as well.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Demons." Nelo answered.

"Demons? But they're all over, and you don't even have guards set here?" I asked as we crossed the bridge that led into the city.

"No need. The aibats are mostly all peaceful, and no really dangerous or aggressive demons stray this far south generally."

Shortly after, we came into an open circular area with many houses lining the outside of the circle. Nelo brought the peaky turtles to a stop and told one of his men to take the reigns.

"What do you say we walk about a little Chen?"

I agreed and exited the wagon, watching as the four wagons continued on.

"What's that huge glowing spire in the center of the circle?"

"That is what the Flarians refer to as the Lode Light. It has been her for longer than anybody can remember and it's said that it was here before the city was built, but the founders of Flaris thought it so beautiful that they just built around it. Come on, this is pretty much the only thing of interest in this section of the city. The buildings in this portion mostly just house soldiers and engineers responsible for testing the Lode Light and making sure things don't malfunction on this end."

"Malfunction?"

"Yeah, see it was Lady Cerand who first discovered that the Lode Light could be used as a power source, and that's part of what fueled her redesign of the fortress. Now when need be, they use the power of the Lode Light to fire the main cannon of the fortress. It's the most powerful weapon Flaris has."

"Amazing!"

"I suppose so. I certainly don't envy anybody who has it in their heads to attack this city. Let's go."

Nelo lead me further south, deeper into the city. This section of the city, like the last, was also based upon a circular area, but with some differences. Unlike the first section, which was closed off except to the north and south, this section had many branches stretching beyond just the inner circle leading out to more buildings beyond the first line. The second difference was that while the first section seemed mostly peaceful and nearly uninhabited…this section was bustling with activity.

"This is Market Circle." Nelo said, "Most anything you could want or need in Flaris can be found here. The buildings directly on the circle belong to the better known merchants such as the smiths Boboko and Boboku. However, as you can see, there are also a lot of people who come here to barter through personal shops and just socialize."

"What about that one?" I asked, pointing to the largest building to the south.

"That would be the bank of Flaris."

"Is that another section of the city to the east?"

"Yes. While most of the market is in this section, there were a few merchants who wanted to set up over there instead, like the grocery run by Losha. But other than that, there are just some residencies and the job office. A young lady by the name of Mikyel runs that. Come to think of it, we may want to check in with her later."

"For what?"

"Well, you may not know who you are, but maybe somebody else does. Hell, maybe you're missing and there might be a lead there."

"You really think so?"

"Well, it can't hurt to try in any case. If nothing else you can take some jobs and earn yourself some penya. That could make things easier on you, if things don't work out right away. Look, I'm going to go make sure the guys have the shop set up alright, but while I'm doing that feel free to go check in with her."

I nodded and Nelo left me to go join his men. After a moment of looking around a little, I quickly made my way to the next section of the city. Mikyel's job office was directly to my left upon entering the third circular section of the city. It was really of a booth than an actual office, with a large billboard and table to the front and left of it. At the desk was Mikyel dawning all red, and large thick glasses. Her hair was pulled back in two balls keeping her blond hair out of her eyes, which were purple I saw when she looked up from her stack of papers at me.

"Welcome to the job office of Flaris. How can I help you?"

"Uh, yes, I was wondering if there were any jobs having to do with missing people?"

She pushed aside the stack of papers she was rifling through and began flipping through a new one. She was coming toward the end of the stack when she paused as though remembering something and stood up. The bulletin board was covered with papers, but she went straight to the middle of it and picked out one that was slightly covered up.

"There haven't been any missing person's jobs for a while, but this one I've kept up for some time now."

She held the sheet out for me, and I felt a jolt of excitement run through my body. There wasn't much on the sheet, just contact information, a reward, and at the end a picture. The young man in the photo had short sandy brown hair and black eyes. I didn't recognize a single feature on this man I was looking at, but then I realized I had no recollection of what I looked like either.

"May I borrow this?"

"Well, I suppose so. Just be sure to bring it back."

I gave her a quick nod and headed quickly toward the water. I stood on the bank of the river and looked again at the flier. It dropped to my side as I looked into the water. The shimmering water reflected the image of a young man, no more than 24 or so, with slightly long and messy gray hair. I leaned in closer, my nose nearly touching the water. I noticed I had gray eyes, and my skin was without a mark or blemish. I stared harder at this stranger in the water, but no feelings of familiarity ever came. It was like looking at myself for the first time.

"Chen?"

I looked behind me at Nelo, who looked slightly worried.

"You ok?" He asked.

"It's not me."

"What?"

Nelo came closer and picked up the flier from where I left it. He looked it over quickly and looked back to me.

"I'm sorry Chen."

"What am I going to do Nelo? I don't even recognize my own reflection. So many things about this world seem unbelievable. I just…I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

I felt something wet on my cheek and wiped it away.

"You'll come with us and join the Scavengers."

"What? I don't think I can…"

"Of course you can. Each branch only gets a certain budget assigned to employment, but I can take you in on my own pay."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"And you're not. Whatever your earnings are you'll pay back. Most Scavengers make money through other means than just the guild. Once you're comfortable you could start taking jobs with the office. Also…I'm hoping to find out just what the whole story with you is now. Still, it's our choice. Become a Scavenger or wander about aimlessly asking everyone you see if they recognize you. What do you say?"

Nelo held out his hand waiting for my answer, but the smile on his face showed the one he was expecting. I smiled back, and put my hand in his.


	3. Hidden Strengths

**Hidden Strengths**

"Chen!"

I was leaving base 3 of the Scavengers of Flaris, heading for the city when Nelo came running up behind me.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Hitting the job office?"

"Of course."

"You actually plan on taking a job this time?"

"Nelo…"

"Ok. I'm just saying. It's been six months."

"So I should stop trying to find out who I am?"

"I didn't say that Chen. All I'm saying is that trying to figure out your past doesn't have to hold back your future."

We stood in silence a moment longer. A slight gust of wind rolled across Flaris.

"Besides, you still owe me a ton of money." Nelo finally said, with a smile. "I hope you don't plan on riding my coat tails forever."

"Fine."

"Good. I'm going to come along though."

"What? Why?"

"Well, it's been a while since I've taken a job at the office. Besides, I get the feeling you might need my help. You're still a little green after all."

With a sigh I replied, "Whatever, let's just go."

We took the same familiar path leading around to the Northwest entrance into Flaris. It had been six months since that strange day waking up on an island in the sky, discovering a world that was my own and yet very unknown to me. It was also six months since I joined the guild, The Scavengers with the help of my friend Nelo Rohe. He had been a great asset to me, helping me become adjusted to life on this strange continent. Much like a newborn though, I still seemed to have things to learn.

As we passed into the Market Circle, the city seemed to be busier than usual.

"What's going on do you think?" I asked Nelo.

"They're just getting prepared for the tournament in two days."

"Tournament?"

"Yeah, about once a year the four cities hold a tournament for warriors."

"Here in Flaris?"

"Well, no. At least, not this year. They rotate the main tournament location between the four cities. This year it's going to be held in Saint Morning."

"Then why?"

"Each city holds their own tournament to determine what four fighters they will be sending to the main one to represent their city. At each of the individual tournaments, there are no restrictions on those who can enter. Often enough though, they get complete amateurs who enter just for the fun."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not really. If you're losing you can concede, and even if someone loses there's very little chance of death at the tournament."

"How's that?"

Nelo looked at me a moment then answered.

"I'll show you after we hit the job office."

We continued on past Market Circle, the bustle of the shop keepers, and everyone else preparing things for the following day. When we got to the East Circle of Flaris, we found a rather large group of people gathered around the job office and Mikyel. She had two other ladies with her apparently helping. She looked up and saw Nelo and I watching her, and hurriedly came over to us.

"I'm sorry Chen, there still isn't any news or anything, so I'll have to see you next week ok?"

"That's alright," I replied. "But I also wanted to try taking a job Mikyel."

She looked surprised.

"Really? Well, that's great! Ok…umm…I don't really have the time to help right now due to the enormous number of tournament entries, but feel free to check the board for something. There should be a few jobs still up."

"Mikyel!" One of her helpers shouted.

"Come back later and we'll talk ok?"

Mikyel rushed back to the crowded table and began to work again. I looked at Nelo, who had a peculiar smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"I think Mikyel's sweet on you, that's all."

"Oh, shut up."

I pushed past Nelo and went to the bulletin board to stare at it's nearly blank face. My eyes instinctively started at the center, where I saw again the missing persons job from when I first began searching for myself. Each time I looked at those black eyes I couldn't help but feel sad. I felt compelled to do something, and as I reached out to grab the flier, Nelo put his hand on my shoulder.

"I think, this one should do just fine." Nelo said picking out a small, slightly decorated flier. "Let's go."

I looked back at the missing person once more before following after Nelo.

"So, what's the job?"

"Collecting some items for decorations and such in the upcoming tournament. Shouldn't be anything the two of us can't handle. We just need to get you a weapon."

"A What?"

"A weapon. The things we need are only found in demons. I was hoping to get to this sort of thing a little sooner really, but this job actually works fine."

"Wait, why would I have needed this kind of experience at all? Who would we need to fight?"

"We may be a neutral guild which keeps us pretty safe from any problems having to do with each nation's governments, but sometimes we're targeted by pirates or similar problems."

We arrived at the weapon smith, Boboku's shop.

"Which would you prefer chen, raw power or speed and precision?"

"Um, the sword I guess?"

"Speed and precision it is. How much Boboku?"

"For you Nelo I'll bring the price down to a meager 14,000 penya."

"Yeah, meager my…whatever we'll take it."

Nelo held out the sword for me. The blade wasn't nearly as heavy as I would have thought, taking it in my hands for the first time. Nelo turned back to me after paying for the weapon.

"Alright, let's go. Just follow me."

We each touched the center panel of our belts and waited as from each, came glowing squares that proceeded to unfold out into nearly flat, rectangular shaped boards that hovered mere inches from the ground. The two of us secured ourselves to our boards and began to fly.

We had headed northwest for quite a while before Nelo signaled for us to land. We descended toward a small camp site and stored our boards back to our belts. It was getting dark already so Nelo decided it would be best to camp for the night. Since the tournament wasn't until the day after tomorrow, he figured there would be plenty of time to collect what we needed and hand it all in tomorrow. There was already a fire going in the middle of the sizable encampment, as well as several people gathered around it. Nelo and I sat on a log together just on the outside of the fire's light.

"Why are all these tents and such already set up?" I asked.

"This camp site was set up and is maintained by Flari Pang. He made this little resting spot for those who come this far from Flaris and needed a place to gather themselves. Also, you noticed the lode light near here right?"

"Pretty hard to miss."

"Right. Well, he also set up camp here to study it. Some say he was commissioned by Lady Cerand, while others will claim any other leader of one of the four cities did. I don't think anybody knows for sure, but my opinion is that he just took a personal interest in it."

We all sat in silence for a while when my eyes began to slowly close. Nelo nudged me softly.

"What?" I asked sleepily.

"Sorry Chen, but you have to stay up just a bit longer."

"I hope you're joking Nelo."

"Afraid not. We have to wait for Flari to assign us a tent. I think he'll be along shortly though."

Another minute passed and I began to rock into sleep yet again when I heard a strange jingling sound coming toward the small group gathered at the fire. I squinted to see who was approaching. What I saw surprised me enough to cause me to fall back off the log. What had come into the light of the campfire was a strange blue birdlike creature, with a large white stomach and a small white spot over its right eye. It was almost as tall as I was, and strangely enough it was wearing a hat made out of what looked like large dried leaves, with a big blue bell connected at its top.

"Nelo, isn't that a demon?"

The rest of the people gathered around began to laugh a little. Nelo stood up and helped me off the ground.

"This is Flari Pang."

"This thing is Flari?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Thing!?" The creature spoke, visibly angry.

"He didn't mean anything by that Flari. He's just sorta…young." Nelo interjected.

"Not young enough to dismiss. Where'd he learn his manners Nelo, those Demians down the hill or something?"

"Not that I know of. Look, he's just tired so if you'd just assign us our tent, then…"

"Fine, fine, take tent six. I'm preparing the morning meal early, so if you don't wake up for it you can expect a cold breakfast."

"Thanks Flari, let's go Chen."

The two of us settled in for the night and Nelo blew out the lantern hanging inside the tent. I was just beginning to fade into sleep when Nelo woke me with his words.

"Try not to make assumptions when you see things like that ok? I know it can be confusing, especially given your condition, but understand that not all demons are evil, or violent. Some are even very kind and helpful like Flari, though unfortunately far less than those of the other sort. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Ok then, good night Chen."

"Night Nelo."

The next morning I awoke to the smell of fresh biscuits and sausage. Nelo was already up and had eaten more than half of his meal. There was a full plate resting next to him.

"Thanks for waking me up." I said sarcastically.

"You didn't ask me to, and there's no real rush this morning anyways. If there were something important I would've woken you."

He lifted the other plate and I took it hungrily. We finished up breakfast and quickly thanked Flari. We were on our way further north when Flari grabbed my arm.  
"Sometimes the past is better left forgotten, and sometimes the answers you are looking for aren't the answers you really want."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Chen, come on already!" Nelo shouted.

Flari released my arm and shuffled away quickly toward the lode light. I tried to drop what he had said, and ran to catch up with Nelo. There was a large bridge of rope and wood from where I caught up with Nelo that stretched for what seemed like a thousand feet to the cliff at the other side.

"We have to cross this thing? Why not just fly over it?" I asked flicking one of the ropes.

"You want to waste fuel on a couple hundred feet? It's safe, trust me. You should've seen this bridge before it as fixed up. There used to be a big hole about three quarters of the way down it."

He took a few steps on the creaking wood then turned his head to face me and said, "Just don't cross it while I'm still on." Then he continued on. I hesitated a moment, not sure if he was joking, then continued across.

We arrived on the other side safely and looking about, I could see many demons roaming the area before me. To our left there were flowers that were each as long as a human, but also with actual legs protruding from the stems. Then in the middle of their petals, were protruding beak like mouths. I watched them fascinated as they scurried about on all six of their legs. Directly ahead of us were many different colored human like cats.

"That's one of the things we're here for."

"The cats?"

"Nyangs they're called, but yes. We need to collect some items from them, and then the Bangs. They're just a little further that way." Nelo said pointing toward the northeast.

Nelo led me closer to the large gathering of nyangs.

"Is it dangerous to get this close?" I asked.

"Not really. Not all demons are aggressive remember?"

"But we're still going to kill them?"

Nelo looked at me a moment then said, "I understand how that must seem, but they have things we need, it isn't as though we just come out and slaughter them wholesale for fun. Not that it would matter much if we did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, demons that are killed appear to be reborn. The time it takes always changes, but I don't think the population can ever actually be wiped out."

"That makes it right?"

"Did I say that it does? Right or wrong, that's just the way life here is, neither a practice in good nor evil. It is what it is. Can you handle that?"

Nelo seemed fairly irritated at this point so I answered simply, "Fine. I can handle it."

One of the nyangs began to stray from the group, walking no particular direction but still coming closer to where Nelo and I were standing. I watched it a moment longer, then it stopped suddenly mid step and its ears stood straight up.

"What's that one doing?" I asked.

"I'm not sure."

Nelo had just gotten out that last word when the nyang looked directly in our direction and its eyes began to glow red. It let out a sharp hissing sound and came running at the two of us.

"Draw your sword Chen!"

I obeyed and held my sword in front of me. Much to my surprise, Nelo stepped out of the way and the nyang charged directly at me. When it got close enough, I swung the sword downward into the creature's shoulder. I looked in shock while, even though the blade bit into the creature a good inch or so, there was no blood. The nyang screamed in pain, but did not fall. Instead it swung its right clawed paw connecting with my cheak, knocking me sideways.

I looked over at the nyang and was surprised to see the wound I left seemed as though it had no real effect. The area that was hit was simply white. The nyang charged once more and swept high with its right paw again. I ducked the attack and swung my sword across its belly as it passed. Once the demon had fully passed me I continued the motion of my swing across its back. There was still no blood, yet the nyang was visibly hurt.

"You should finish it now Chen, before it gathers enough energy to strike again."

Nelo was right. The nyang already seemed to be preparing to continue the fight. I made the first move, this time raising the sword high above my head then leaping at the demon, swinging down with all my strength and weight. Unlike the first three strikes, which left only white streaks where the sword had connected, this attack split the nyangs skull in half spurting blood onto my clothes. I stumbled back in shock as the monster's dead body slumped to the earth.

"What? I don't…" I struggled to find the words I wanted.

"You beat down its spirit. You see, all living creatures in this world have a spirit that forms a natural shield around their bodies, protecting them from certain amounts of harm, much like your first three strikes. It's the exact same thing that kept the nyang from tearing a good chunk out of your face earlier, or even drawing blood for that matter."

I put one hand on the cheek that the nyang scratched and then looked at it. There was no blood.

"However, once this shield takes too much damage, you become dangerously open to attack. Once the shield is broken, you can be killed."

"So this is what keeps the tournament relatively safe then? You can somewhat gauge how much more damage the shield can take?"

"Somewhat. All people have different strengths, which means different amounts of punishment one person's spirit can take next to another…and also how much damage one does to another person's spirit as well. For the fights that get a little too intense or are badly matched, there are powerful assists ready to help."

"Assists?"

"Yes. Magic users who specialize mostly in supportive and curative crafts. The powerful ones can prevent true death. You see, once you die, there is a small window of time where an assist will be able to keep the soul from completely abandoning the body. If they are allowed time to concentrate, they can heal the body enough to prevent the soul from escaping, saving the life. Only the most skilled generally even attempt this procedure as it is fairly draining on both the assist, and even the revived soul usually is still so weak they can barely move. Luckily, Lady Cerand and Sir Yob are the most powerful assists in the world, and they always attend the tournament."

"Who is Sir Yob?"

Nelo walked to the fallen nyang body and pulled my sword from it. He held my sword out for me and pulled me to my feet once I grabbed the handle. Then before my eyes, the body of the nyang began to dissolve. After the corpse was gone, there were some items left behind which Nelo picked up and stored quickly. He turned to me and answered.

"Sir Yob, is Lady ceran'ds right hand. Though he is much more than that. As powerful as Lady Cerand is, no being alive can create an external shield as powerful as Yob can. Seeing Lady Cerand's yourself, I'm sure you can understand just what that means. Of course more importantly than any of that, is the fact that they are also lovers."

"Lovers?"

"Yes, though it's somewhat of an unknown fact. Probably due to the fact that they don't much show it. Or more specifically, she doesn't. Enough of that though. We still need more of these, and given that as your first fight, I'd say we're in decent shape. Let's go see if we can pick off another wanderer."

The two of us headed a little closer to the main group of nyangs. Suddenly, the entire group began sniffing the air, and like the wanderer, their ears all stood straight up. The entire group shifted their gaze at us and we could only stare back at about a dozen pairs of fiercely red glowing eyes.

"This doesn't look quite right…" Nelo began, when the entire group broke into runs, stampeding in our direction.

"Get ready Chen!" Nelo yelled, drawing two swords and rushing the entire pack of nyangs.

After the battle, Nelo collected all that we needed and decided it was time to move on. I was quite tired at this point, but Nelo didn't seem phased at all. He defeated most of the nyangs on his own, and without very much trouble. Even though I was tired, I followed along to face the next group of demons.

The bangs were giant metallic beings. They stood more than twice the size of either me or Nelo, with a hammer and crescent shaped blade in place of each of its hands.

"You must be joking! We're going to fight those things?" I asked.

"Yeah, why not? Don't worry about it, they're generally stronger than nyangs, but we can handle it."

"Well I know that you can, the way you took on those nyangs and all."

"Hmm…alright then, I'll take care fo this then, you just watch my back in case things start to look bad."

"Sure."

Nelo pulled his dual swords out once more and strode towards the bangs. One nearest him attacked, swinging its giant mallet hand downward to crush him. I felt my heart jump slightly as all he did was hold up his blades, blocking the blow effortlessly. Nelo shifted the arm to his left, and once he moved closer his swords began to move seemingly of their own, cutting into the demon. The bang rocked forward and fell down into the earth just as Nelo moved swiftly out of the way. He continued on in this fashion on the others around him, moving quickly and striking them down with relative ease. I had begun picking up the parts we needed while Nelo fought, until there was a loud crashing noise coming from the trees to my left. Nelo just finished with on more when he came to where I was.

"Nelo?"

"Back up a little bit Chen."

Before I could, nearly the entire front row of trees exploded and a bang towered over us, dwarfing even all the other bangs by a great deal.

"Get out of here Chen!" Nelo screamed.

I was frozen in place. I couldn't move, speak, or anything other than stare at the giant bang and its two glowing red eyes. Nelo rushed onward. The giant bang swung its blade vertically at Nelo as if just trying to brush him aside as it continued toward me. Nelo moved quickly to avoid the attack and somehow managed to get a hold of the arm on passing and began climbing up it. Nelo slashed at the bang's head without a moment's rest or any visible effect to the monster itself. The giant just came lumbering forward and swung its hammer arm at me sideways at it did with Nelo. All I could think to do was bring up my sword to block the attack, but the blow shattered the blade and threw me head over heels into a boulder.

"Chen!"

Nelo jumped from the demon's shoulder to check on me, but was then flung into the trees by a kick from the bang. I found I could not move. I could only watch on as the giant refocused its attention onto me. The giant bladed hand raised him in the air and as it began to come down to cut me in two, I could hear from somewhere in the distance…a click.

I found myself suddenly behind the demon just as the bladed hand connected with the earth. I vaguely felt the grip of one of Nelo's swords in my hand but nothing else. My body began to move without my control charging forward and attacked the backs of the creature's legs at a speed that frightened me. The bang seemed to stumble slightly, but did not fall. Instead the monster swung its powerful arm while turning to face me. My body rushed back between the legs twice more, striking again and again at the legs on each pass. The demon fell to one knee, and my body began to make passes striking at the body trying to wear it down. The bang was using its hammer arm to keep itself propped up. It would not be long now I felt. On one pass though, the bang swung with its other hand in an upward motion, catching me and flinging my body into the air. All I could see was the tree line disappear and was replaced by the endless sky until I felt my body right itself in mid air…and then it began to spin like a top. I came back down holding Nelo's sword out as I spun, then crashed into the bang, cutting into it over and over. Everything was blurred, but I finally crashed into the earth, ending my spin and leaving me unconscious.

When I finally opened my eyes, I had regained control of my body and I found Nelo kneeling over me.

"You ok Chen?"

"I…think so."

"How'd you do it? How'd you beat that thing on your own?"

"I…don't know. It was just a second away from finishing me off when my body started acting on its own. I couldn't control myself."

Nelo looked at me a moment, studying me.

"Let's go. We have all we need here."

We flew back to Flaris in silence. Nelo handed in the components and split up our money. He wanted to stay in town a bit longer, so I decided to go home. As I tried to sleep, I found it impossible, remembering the events of the day, and pondering even more over all the questions of myself I've never found answers for. I was awake when Nelo finally arrived, and I remained so long after he slept.


	4. The Tournament

**The Tournament**

Nelo woke early and came to my bed.

"Did you sleep any Chen?"

"No."

"That's unfortunate. You would've needed the rest to fight at your fullest."

"Fight what?"

"Whoever your opponents in the tournament may be."

"What?"

"I signed you up for the tournament last night. Luckily I caught Mikyel just as she was closing up. She was pretty hesitant to sign you."

"For good reason Nelo! What were you thinking? I never gave you permission to…"

"Chen, listen…the way you took on that giant on your own was incredible. I think it may have been a sign of who you were. Something inside you kicked in when you were in danger. Maybe you used to be a soldier. If that's the case, I think this tournament would be the best chance we have at more clues. If you win here, you go to Saint Morning. It's a larger city, and this tournament will help get your face and name out there. I wouldn't have done it if I thought you couldn't handle it, or if I thought there were a better alternative."

"I understand you're trying to help, but, a tournament? Do you expect what happened to me in that forest to kick in every time I fight?"

"No, of course I don't. However I do expect to bring some of it out. When I took you to the nyangs, I expected you to do far worse than you did. Not only did you win, but you barely got hurt. With some training before the tournament, I think you can at least qualify to go to Saint Morning." Nelo paused, holding his hand out to me to help me out of bed then continued. "The choice is still yours Chen."

I was reminded again of those months past, when he first held out his hand like this. I wondered just how many time I would put my life in this man's hands. At least once more apparently. I grabbed his hand and we left the base to train.

We arrived in Market Square several hours later, just as the tournament was under way. Many ships circled the flying fortress Bobor, and several platforms were carrying people from the ground upward into the behemoth in the sky. Nelo and I stepped onto a platform full of people and rode it skyward.

As large as the fortress looked from the outside, it was nothing so massive when compared to the interior.

"Incredible!" I said.

"Yes. No matter how many times you may see this place from the inside, it always manages to take the breath away."

_"With good reason too." _I thought.

Even though the whole interior was a deep purple, there was an occasional pulse of prismatic color that would travel through the walls and ceiling like a wave. I placed one hand on a nearby wall just as the wave passed and felt it grow warm for a moment.

"Chen, let's go." Nelo said tapping my shoulder.

There were several people that looked like soldiers directing and channeling the flow of people to upper sections of the fortress. Nelo and I must have gone up at least five more floors by the time we arrived at the main lift to the top.

"This is where we part for now Chen." Nelo said.

"Wait, why?"

"Fighters stay down here until it's their time to fight. See this last big lift is also the fighting circle. It's just being used to carry up the spectators until the tournament really starts. Just go ahead and tell that guard over there that you're an applicant, and he'll tell you what to do from there. Don't worry Chen, you'll be fine."

With that Nelo was on the platform and I lost sight of him. Just as he said the guard directed me to where I needed to be. The room he took me to was one not far from the main lift. In the room with me was about 20 or so other people that must have been entries in the tournament. Some were off by themselves, preparing for the fights in their own ways while the others were mostly grouped up socializing. I decided to just rest against the nearest wall, still tired from the training Nelo had put me through. Soon enough it would become clear just how beneficial it really was. Suddenly I could faintly here some music coming from above. Moments later a guard entered calling a name, and one of the other fighters followed him out. The sound of the lift was followed by the sounds of many cheers. Some time after that, the lift could be heard again, the same guard from earlier entered, announced a name, and it all happened again. This continued for about half an hour, my stomach becoming tighter with each fighter called before me. Some returned to this room, even ones that I hadn't seen start here. Finally, the guard arrived to the room again.

"Chen?" He asked.

I got to my feet and followed the guard to the lift. Once there, I saw another guard leading someone out of a room across from the one I came from. My opponent. We stood at the far opposite ends of the platform facing each other. The lift began to rise and as we came up I began to catch my first glimpses of the crowd.

Cheers boomed out through the air as the lift came to a stop. I looked around at more than a hundred, and several ships circling the air around us as well. There was even that large ship from long ago, flying the red shield on the golden banner. Lady Cerand and Sir Yob must've been watching from there. At four points of the fighting platform, stood robed men carrying staves. Simultaneously their voices calmed the crowd.

"Let the next match of the tournament proceed. Zeioz Lesur will be fighting Chen. Begin!"

The four robed men picked up their staves lightly and then slammed them on the ground. Suddenly the platform my opponent and I were on had formed a dome of yellow light. I looked at the other man who had begun to charge. I dodged a wide swing he made with an axe. As he continued swinging wildly, I found that it was easy to see and anticipate each coming attack. I continued to back up while avoiding swing after swing, until my back hit something. I had backed all the way up to that translucent wall of light. Apparently though, Zeioz also misjudged distance and ruined this opportune moment by overextending his next swing, causing his axe to be deflected off a portion of the field above my head. It was my turn to attack. I gripped the sword Nelo lent me tightly and swung hard at Zeioz's arms, the pain causing him to drop his axe. The next attack was aimed directly at his head sending him to the ring's floor. As I stood over him, a shield now appeared around his body. I stepped back and saw one robed man make several gestures with his right hand and light enveloped the fallen fighter's body. The field of light around both him and the platform fell away as he got back to his feet. Zeioz walked to me smiling and held out his hand.

"Good fight Chen." He said.

I took his hand and shook it. The crowd began to cheer. Zeioz just continued to smile and then wave to the crowd, before stepping out of the ring to join them. The lift shifted and began to take me back down. The tournament continued on like this for three more matches. I was in the finals. The training I went through with Nelo was seemingly a great help. I began to wonder if perhaps what my friend had told me about being a soldier was true. Before I could delve into it further, the guard entered and I followed out to the lift. I was slightly surprised to find that I was fighting a woman. The lift brought us up and the robed men spoke.

"The fourth round of the finals will begin now. Chen versus Rusep Reque. Begin!"

I lifted my sword, preparing for an attack just as the light field covered the platform. Then, she winked at me. I lowered my sword slightly and she struck, making gestures in the air with two battle axes within an instant a ball of flame materialized and shot out knocking me back. Before I could recover, I was blasted again. A third ball came, but I rolled out of the way and it crashed into the light shield, sending a small ripple through it. She continued to launch one fireball after another as I charged her, narrowly dodging each blast. Finally I was close enough. She was just about to cast another spell when I swung out my sword, gripping from the bottom of the hilt. She easily dodged, but interrupting her casting got me closer to the point where we were then exchanging steel. She was skillful with her axes, but it seemed as though casting all the magic had worn her down enough to give me an edge. I forced her to the end of the platform, her back against the wall of light. My attacks began to get through her defenses and she visibly weakened. When she dropped to one knee I backed off slightly. She just looked up at me with intense anger in her eyes.

"It's not over yet fool!" She screamed.

She quickly made motions before her as I stepped forward preparing to swing at her, but all too late. The two of us were swallowed up in her spell. A giant vortex of wind picked us both up into the air. I felt like my limbs would be pulled from my body when suddenly the vortex flung Rusep and me in opposite directions, slamming us both into the shield. I staggered to one knee, feeling nauseous and sore. I looked over to where Rusep was, and noticed she was not getting up. The tornado began to vanish and so too did the light shield. I began to feel a strange warmth over take me, and my body no longer felt worn from the battle. The four cloaked men surrounded Rusep. After a few moments she stirred and began to rise, ignoring the pleadings of the robed men. The platform began to descend as she started to walk toward me. Once we were back down, three other men began to approach.

"Don't count on this outcome again." Rusep said before leaving.

The three other men gathered around me smiling. One of them grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"I never would have thought a newcomer would beat Rusep. Congratulations Chen!"

"Yeah, I was relieved when I found out I wouldn't be fighting her." One of the others commented.

"This would be the first time she hadn't made it to the main tournament. I don't know how you got away from her tornado alright." The third added.

The platform began to rise with the four of us on it, and we were greeted by cheers from a standing audience. The four cloaked men raised their hands and the crowd gradually grew silent. The four spoke in unison once again.

"Here stand the four champions that will represent Flaris at the great tournament in Saint Morning. Weneibo, Sefton, Dawelien, and Chen, fight well and bring honor to our glorious city!"

There were cheers again and we all waived to the crowd that was soon out of the stands and rushing the center of the ring to hoist us onto their shoulders. I looked up at the surrounding ships as they began to fire balls of light into the air that exploded, sending multi colored streaks in all directions. It was incredible. I was going to Saint Morning. The rest of the night continued on in a celebration the likes of which I had never witnessed in Flaris. Nelo and I returned to the base in high spirits. We stayed up for hours after, discussing the tournament and things to come. The next day we used Nelo's ship in convoy with Lady Cerand's flag ship, and several other guild ships. I rode on the deck as usual. This would be the first time I've been to another country and was amazed to find that the nations were separated by a sea of clouds. I wondered what lay beneath these lands, if anything at all. My train of thought broke as I spotted in the distance, partially sunken in the clouds, what looked like two giant gears. There was a pop and I could hear Nelo's voice.

"You'll be able to see Saint Morning pretty soon Chen."

I moved toward the front of the ship and squinted through the clouds until the cover broke and the city opened up before me.


	5. A New Land and a New Champion

**A New Land and a New Champion**

Nelo maneuvered the ship to come into the giant dock of Saint Morning, built into a hill overlooking the city. The dock area alone was so massive that it dwarfed the city of Flaris. There seemed to be just enough space for our convoy. The moment we stepped off of the ship we were greeted by a group of soldiers.

"Lord Ashel asks that the champions of Flaris and Lady Cerand join him at the castle and meet the rest of the representatives."

A guard appeared on the deck of the Crimson Shield flagship and spoke.

"Lady Cerand requests that you all continue without her, and she will be along shortly."

The soldier nodded in agreement and began leading our small group to the castle.

Saint Morning was an enormous city, with stone streets branching off our present one that lead off in different directions the further out they got. The homes were much larger than those in Flaris, and made of stone rather than wood and thatching. On the path to the castle alone there seemed to be more people than commonly seen in my home city. After some time the path opened up into a huge open court with the castle a little off to our right.

Outside, there was a large glowing spire, much like the one in Flaris. The castle, I found, was also a church. It stood at least three times as tall at its center as the surrounding buildings, and much larger around. Almost the entire structure was formed of a strange blue stone, with only slight traces of red near the top.

There were massive amounts of people in the area, many of whom were gathered around a caravan that was parked a few yards from the lode light. I could hear laughter and cheers from the crowd as they watched what appeared to be a swordfight.

"They're local performers Chen. The two enacting the fight scene though, are also true warriors. Modos Ayd and his wife Ayako. They're two of the top competitors in this tournament. They have two championship titles each, and combined have been the winners of the tournament for the last four years running. I just hope the drawing doesn't pit you up against either of them in the first. We have more training to do before you're ready for that I think." Nelo whispered.

The cheers from the crowd grew louder as the acting troupe bowed simultaneously. The two leads took a step forward, bowed again deeply, and then parted from the make shift stage. They were coming to the castle.

We all arrived at the gigantic double doors, and were announced to the guards. I looked again at the actors as they were the first to be allowed in. I could see neither of their faces beneath the masks they were wearing, nor much else due to their costumes. Next we were allowed in and escorted up some rather lengthy stairs to our quarters.

"Lord Ashel would like for you all to remain in your rooms until you are summoned for dinner. There are still some preparations that need to be made." The guard said before leaving us.

Dawelien, Sefton, and Weneibo all closed their doors to ready themselves for dinner. Nelo came to talk.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Are you sure I can do this?"

"Well, you did beat Rusep. She usually does fairly in this tournament, so I'd say your chances are about as good. It's just…there's no real way to tell. The best thing I can tell you is that there is no such thing as a sure thing. That goes especially true when you're in a battle. You just never know, so it's probably best not to think too hard on it before the moment comes."

"Right."

"Win or not Chen, this is still a good chance to find something out for you. Now get dressed. You don't want to go to dinner with a lord looking like that."

"Like what?"

"Nothing, just change."

Nelo went to his assigned room and closed the door. I changed as he suggested and sat on the bed for a short moment before the guard came to get myself and the others.

We were all escorted to a large room in the west wing. In the very middle of the brightly lit room was a large square table. At the far end was a large bald man who stood to greet us.

"I am honored to have you in my hall. Lady Cerand will arrive shortly, but requested that we start without her. For those of you whom I have not personally met, I am Ashel. Lord of this great city. Please, take your seats and we can begin."

The representatives of Saint Morning all joined Ashel on the far side of the table, but without sitting yet. Next went those from East Darkon to the left of Ashel, and those from West Darkon to his right. Those of us from Flaris stood directly across from him, and everyone only took their seats once he did. Food was brought in for us and we mostly ate in silence for the exception of one of the city leaders talking across the table to one another as though nobody else was there. I saw again the actors Modos and Ayako seated next to each other, but no longer wearing their costumes. Ayako had pure white hair that was kept short, not going past her ears, yet lightly covering her large blue eyes. Modos on the other hand had very long raven black hair that went well past his shoulders. It was hard to believe that these two were as strong as Nelo had claimed. They were both very small and meek looking, with wide smiles on both their faces as they spoke to each other.

I continued scanning the the group, but stopped on one representative of West Darkon. He was tall but very slender, almost starved looking by the size of him. Unlike everyone else at the table, he was wearing layers of plain brown tattered robes and was also wrapped up in bandages that I could see covering his hands and trailing up his sleeves. The strangest thing though was that his face was covered by an iron mask, while the rest of his head was also covered in bandages. I continued to look at the stranger as he sat as a statue, touching neither food nor drink. His head shifted slightly, and though I could not see his eyes, it felt as though he was staring back at me. My attention broke away, as did everyone else's, at the sound of the door behind us opening. All those around the table rose and I followed suit quickly, turning to face the door.

"Lady Cerand and Sir Yob have arrived." A guard announced, moving to one side.

For the first time, I laid my eyes upon the leaders of the city that I had called home.

Atrys Yob was a tall man, much like the bandaged stranger, but without the look of malnourishment. His skin, beard, and head were all very light, offset by the deep brown eyes he had. I could feel a great strength almost emanate from the man not just by the look in his eyes, but the way he carried himself.

On his right was Lady Cerand. She was nearly as tall as Yob, but looked somehow much smaller next to him. Though she was standing up straight, she seemed to almost be using his arm to support herself as the two walked arm in arm as they walked slowly to the table. While she was also of a light complexion, it did not seem as natural as her love's. Despite her weakened and somewhat sickly seeming condition, she was captivating. She had lovely sky blue hair that went down to her waist, and small red lips. In her golden eyes was portrayed the strength that her body hadn't. I looked a moment at Nelo, about to say something, but noticed something in his expression. It reminded me much of the first time he had told me about her. The two finally arrived at their seats as I decided to not pursue my curiosity.

"I apologize for my tardiness Lord Ashel." She said in a soft voice.

"Nothing seriously wrong I hope?" Ashel asked.

"No, not at all."

Everyone was seated again and resuming much the same behavior as before Cerand arrived. The rest of the meal went on without any sort of excitement or problems, but I couldn't help wonder what the point to the dinner was at all.

Those of us that would be participating in the tournament decided to return to our rooms early, leaving the world's leaders and their most trusted at the table. Nelo didn't wait to talk with me, but in stead just returned to his quarters without a word. I decided it would be best to do the same.

I found myself walking down a long, seemingly endless hall. On the walls to my left and right, vines and fungi grew wildly. I continued walking for what seemed like an eternity, and then came to stop. In front of me was a strange glass container. I peered closer to see what was inside, when the glass cracked.

Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I sat up in the bed. It was merely a dream. There was a knock at the door, then a voice.

"You are summoned to the south hall. The tournament will be beginning soon."

I got dressed slowly, preoccupied with the dream. Even while following this strangely talkative guard to the south hall, I could only think of the dream and what it might have meant. We arrived at the south hall where the other fifteen fighters were gathered. I barely heard the guard wish me luck while heading for the other Flaris competitors. Their faces weren't quite full of as many smiles as they had been the previous day.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"You just missed the drawing for the match ups Chen." Sefton answered.

"It's all four of us. We're in the last two matches. Sefton and me, then you and Dawelien." Weneibo added.

"I don't remember if there's been a tournament where all the representatives from one city were put in the same bracket. Now we're only going to have one shot at winning no matter how you cut it. I can't believe our luck." Sefton continued sarcastically, adjusting his glasses with on finger.

"It could be good luck though right?" I heard Nelo's voice from over my shoulder. "After all, with the four of you being grouped together, that automatically puts Flaris into the semi-finals. If you were drawn normally, I'd hate to say it, but there's no guarantee anyone for Flaris would make it past the preliminaries."

"So you think." Sefton replied.

I wanted to tell Nelo about the dream and see what he might make of it, but was stopped by the sound of the bell of Ashel's castle.

"I'll see you out there Chen." Nelo said before leaving the hall.

All sixteen of us were lined up at the large double doors leading out of the back of the castle. First were those from Saint Morning, lead by the acting couple Ayako and Modos. Then were those from East Darkon followed by West Darkon's fighters with the strange masked man trailing the others. Those of us from Flaris were last with Sefton at the lead and Weneibo in the back behind me. The doors opened and we all filed out, down the long steps to the arena area below.

Unlike the arena in Flaris, this one was more than a simple circular space, but was actually carved into the earth, complete with spectator areas and watch boxes. The fighting ring itself was the furthest section down. Large stones made up the ring floor and the six foot walls they lead out to. At the top of these walls were sixteen stools equally spaced apart surrounding the ring. We sat at these stools in the same order we were lined so that Weneibo ended up on my right side.

As I looked around the coliseum, I saw people packed all around us in every one of the four tiers above us. Unlike at Flaris, this crowd was fairly calm. It grew strangely dark and all eyes averted to the sky. Following, I saw above us not clouds, but a sky full of ships, with the four largest directly above us. Lady Cerand's flagship was amongst the four.From each ship I could make out large circular objects beginning to descend, eventually coming to rest at four points equally distanced from each other above us to the height of the last tier of the arena.

The crowd rose, as did the other fighters and myself soon after. I then heard the booming voice of Lord Ashel, coming from the floating platform to my right, casting its shadow over Saint Morning's fighters.

"People of Roika, it is my honor and privilege to welcome you all to Saint Morning for the tenth tournament of champions!"

The crowd exploded as Ashel ended the sentence. He held up his hand to bring them back down again, and continue.

"You all know that I'm not one to waste time, but I wanted to announce that this year, things will be a little different. This year rather than having rest periods after each set of matches so all the fighters can fight at their full potential, we will have no break periods save for the time from match to the next. I would like to find what fighters can not only fight at their full potential, but who has the steam to go through their matches with little time for recuperation."

There were murmurs running through the crowd, and even some of the fighters as well. The only ones who seemed unaffected were Ayako, Modos, and the masked fighter from West Darkon. From where I stood, I could almost make out a smile on Lord Ashel's face as he brought up his hand again to command silence.

"I realize this must come as a surprise, but I am eager to see who the true champion in this tournament is. With no further ado, let this tournament begin!"

Once again cheers shot out as Ashel took his seat. Calm only began to set back in when four robed men with staves stepped forward as in Flaris. However, this time the men's robes each had a crest corresponding to one of the four flagships they went to stand under. Just like in Flaris they spoke together to announce the match up. I was distracted however, and could only concentrate on the actors Modos and Ayako. I knew they would pose a great threat in this tournament more now from their mannerisms than what Nelo had told me. Every moment I've seen them, they were smiling. I t was as if they had no worries in the world and nothing could surprise them. I pulled my attention away from them and tried to concentrate on the fights instead, waiting patiently for my turn in the ring.

It was the fifth match of the preliminaries and a match I couldn't wait to see.

"Saint Morning's Modos Ayd versus East Darkon's Modnar Yug." The robed men echoed.

Modnar picked up his sword and shield and quickly took the nearest platform down into the ring. Modos however, took his time. First walking to Ayako for a good luck kiss then turning back to the crowd to wave, causing an uproar of cheers and whistles. Still waving, he backed up a few steps then leaned back, falling downward into the fighting pit. Correcting himself midair, he landed gracefully on his feet then turned to face his opponent.

The match began and Modnar brought up his shield in front of him as if preparing for an attack. Modos bowed deeply then finally drew his thin rapier style blade, putting his left hand in the air behind him in a fencer's stance. Modnar worked his way slowly to Modos, never dropping his shield for an instant until close enough to attack. Modnar was fairly skilled as a fighter, rarely dropping his guard only to attack in instances appearing to be opportune. Yet watching this fight, it was hard to pick this up. For every attack by Modnar, there was a dodge or parry by Modos. As skilled as Modnar may have been, Modos was toying with him, dancing around his opponent, effortlessly avoiding attacks, all the while that same smile never leaving his face. Modnar's control began slipping with each attack becoming wilder and more hurried. He attempted a shoulder bash but like all other attacks this too was avoided. Only now, Modos seemed to be getting tired of toying around so much. As he passed Modnar's shoulder, he motioned his rapier toward the ground and ice covered the earth under his opponent's feet, sending him crashing down. As the downed man attempted to regain his feet, Modos raised his sword as if saluting the crowd.

"Stop toying with this one my love." Ayako's voice rang out. "I would like my turn soon."

"As you wish my angel." Modos acknowledged.

Just as promised he ended the fight with only a few well aimed thrusts of his sword. Modnar left the ring first after being healed with Modos close behind stopping him before he left the entire arena. I couldn't hear what was said, but saw Modos hold out his hand and the other man turn his back on him, leaving. Modos returned to his seat, now unlike the rest of the day the smile had vanished from his face.

The next match was called for. Ayako and the masked fighter that was only announced as Anonymous. The lady fighter was already in the ring, tapping her foot impatiently as the masked fighter slowly worked his way to the platform to take him down. The fight hadn't even begun, yet he was looking to be in bad shape. The stranger was breathing heavily, his slumped shoulders rising and falling with every deep, haggard breath. He never stood straight up. The man's legs were bent, looking as though they'd soon fail him. He finally stepped off the platform to his spot in the arena facing the female fighter from Saint Morning.

Ayako drew her sword which looked like an exact replica of her lover's, but when I looked at West Darkon's fighter, I noticed no weapons. Suddenly he broke out into a stumbling run straight for Ayako. I expected a hidden sword or daggers, or anything, but instead the stranger threw a wide and wild punch missing its target entirely. The masked fighter righted himself and turned around only to get the flat of Ayako's blade across the face, sending him to the ground. The masked fighter struggled to his hands and knees.

"My dear, I don't think this one is even worth playing with." Modos yelled.

"I think you may be right love. I'll join you soon." Ayako shouted back then looked down at the stranger and continued in a hushed voice. "I'll do this in one strike for you stranger."

Ayako tapped her blade with two fingers and made a quick figure against the flat of the blade. She drew back and prepared to thrust as flames grew over her sword like vines. The attack was swift causing some flames to trail off the blade. There was almost a gasp from the entire crowd as we all looked on. The blade stood suspended inches from the stranger's head being held fast in the man's gloved left hand. A look of shock on Ayako's face was replaced quickly with one of pain as the stranger then buried his free hand into her stomach. She hunched over as he picked her into the air with the same hand and began to run. He no longer appeared the sickly, weak, and clumsy fighter as earlier. The masked man was mere yards from the wall of the ring, but showed no signs of slowing down. Dust and the sound of crumbling stone filled the air as nearly everyone in the arena was on their feet to see the actress and warrior Ayako, partially buried in the wall unconscious. The stranger, already walking away toward his place at the ring's edge knew he had won.

"Ayako!" Modos roared.

The robed men were quick to enter the ring and remove Ayako from it. The main four handed her off to others who would be responsible for healing her. Everybody slowly sat back down again for the exception of Modos who followed the men with his wife.

The tournament didn't slow down. The next fight was called and over in a flash with Sefton bating out Dawelien. Now it was my turn against Weneibo. He fought predictably as well as most others in the Flaris tournament, and was defeated with little effort. He shook my hand before leaving and I sat waiting for my next match, but was far more interested in the next fight with the masked stranger.

The first two quarter final matches were over, and the match everyone was anticipating was called. Modos Ayd versus the anonymous fighter from West Darkon. Modos' usual smile was replaced by a look of fury through gritted teeth.

"The only reason you beat Ayako was by deceiving her. You played weak and took her by surprise. You're scum! You can't even fight with honor. There's no doubt you're strong, but I know if you had shown us all your strength from the beginning she would've beaten you. Well, I'll just have to do it for her!" The angry man yelled drawing his sword.

Ignoring Modos' words, the masked man began a slow walk towards his opponent. Modos blew on his sword and began twirling it in his hands over his head. After a few rotations a disc of ice as long as the blade of his sword had materialized. When Modos swung his sword, the frosty disc flew toward the masked fighter. The other man didn't even try to avoid the attack, but instead raised one clenched hand in the air then brought it back down just as the ice disc would cut him in two. His fist collided with the flat side of the disc breaking it, sending shards of ice in all directions. While the stranger never broke his stride, Modos never slowed his attacks sending discs of ice in rapid succession at his opponent only for each to be broken in the same manner as the first.

Finally Modos realized these attacks were ineffective and tried something else. This time he blew on the tip of the blade and drew small individual circles in the air with it. Each of the circles began to turn white as frost formed. Modos thrust his sword at each circle in turn, causing small spike covered icicles to rocket forth. It seemed that the stranger couldn't simply break these as he could the discs, but dodged them all just as easily.

Modos smiled and said, "Can't break these ones friend? Good."

He plunged his sword into the ground and gave it a twist after muttering some words. Suddenly the floor of the arena for the exception of where Modos stood himself became covered in a layer of ice. The stranger stopped, slipping a little on the ice.

"Time to end this fight stranger." Modos proclaimed making five more circles in the air after pulling his sword from the ground.

Five icicles flew through the air at such a speed I didn't see how the stranger could avoid them. It looked like his knees started to buckle again. Then, just as he was about to be impaled by Modos' attack, he launched high into the air on a course for Modos. He was moving too quickly for Modos to react and when the stranger landed there was an explosion of stone and ice. The ground returned to normal and we all watched as the stranger picked Modos' limp body out of the newly created crater in the ring. Leaving him in the center for the robed men to take care of, the fighter returned to his seat. Once Modos was removed from the ring, it was my turn to fight once more.

Sefton stood across from me, adjusted his glasses, and then smiled.

"You know Chen, I almost regret you got to fight Rusep instead of me. I know we all must have made it sound like she was the strongest of us, and maybe she used to be, but I thnk you'll find a wholly different challenge in me."

He held his staff in front of him vertically and I attacked. I was almost within range when he twisted his hands in opposite directions and suddenly the middle portion of the staff retracted outwards revealing a metal wire running through the middle of the bisected staff. I tried to stop but he moved too quickly, barely flicking his wrist, the bottom portion of the staff seemed to shoot at me of its own will, catching me under the chin. I stumbled back some feet, but didn't fall. I looked up at Sefton as he moved the staff around his body effortlessly. He switched between defensive and offensive in an instant. Any moment I got close enough I would be struck by one end while he never slowed his pattern. I couldn't find a way through his defenses.

I finally decided there wasn't going to be a chance to attack without getting hit, so I decided it was time to just go all out. I began just rushing and swinging wildly backing Sefton up all the while getting pummeled. He finally backed to the wall and I thought I had him, but found my next attack deflected by a small light shield just the size of an opened hand. Sefton used this opportunity to launch a barrage of strikes, knocking me to the ground.

"Like I said," Sefton said adjusting his glasses, "I'm a whole different challenge. Not too many assists enter the tournaments as I'm sure you've noticed. Not for lack of ability, but I think more because many of them make some sort of unspoken oath to not do harm unless necessary."

"Not you though I guess." I grunted, struggling to my feet.

He smiled and replied, "Well, we all have different opinions on necessity don't we?"

He allowed me back to my feet, knowing at this point I wouldn't win as I was. I had to think fast as the fight was definitely taking its toll on me. Finally, I found my solution. I drove Nelo's sword into the ground at an angle and stepped on it with all the strength I could muster, breaking the blade. I smiled at the look on Sefton's face as I picked up the broken portion and held it in my free hand. If the plan worked, I could win, but only if I was on with my hunch. It was time to test it.

I attacked, first stabbing underhanded with the pointed end of the blade in my left hand knowing Sefton would deflect it, as he did with one portion of his sectioned staff, knocking it across to the right side of my body. When he switched to offensive, I was ready, blocking his next swing of the staff with the sword in my right hand. Now I had to work fast. Before he recovered his weapon, I switched the grip on the blade in my left hand and swung it back across my body at Sefton's shoulder. As expected, the same sort of partial light shield materialized and deflected the stab, so finally I leaned my head back slightly then shot it forward, connecting with his nose. The moment he dropped his small light shield, I drove the blade into the forearm and twisted it. Sefton cried out in pain, dropping his sectional staff. Now I swung with all the strength in my right arm cutting across my opponent's face, breaking his glasses. I quickly picked up his weapon in my now free hand and began assaulting him. Many of my attacks were avoided both by his magic, and his sheer physical capabilities, but enough were connecting to know the fight was beginning to lean in my favor. Finally, Sefton fell, and I felt like doing the same. I could barely lift my arm even though the blade was half so large.

The semi finals were now started. I was too exhausted to even watch the other two fighters in their match up. My limbs felt as though they would all detach just so I wouldn't punish them further. Before I knew it, my name was called yet again. On my way to the lift down to the arena, I was stopped by a stranger in a cloak, holding out an object for me wrapped in linen.

"Nelo thought you might need this, and he wanted me to say good luck and try not to break this one as well, for he has business to attend to."

The Stranger stood across from me in the arena looking much like I did, though by now I knew he wasn't nearly so feeble as he put on. If only the same could be said for me.

"Leave."

My eyes shot wide in surprise, hearing for the first time a hollow voice echoed behind that iron mask.

"Leave now. If we fight…nothing good will come of it. Drop out and leave Saint Morning."

I looked down at the item I received from Nelo still wrapped in its linen, and began unraveling it.

"I probably should. Especially having seen what you're capable and all, but I can't. I'm still not sure what may come of this tournament for me," I stared at the new blade Nelo had left me, then grasped it, looked back at my opponent and continued, "but even with my doubts, there is somebody who has left his faith in me and is doing all he can to help me. I can't ignore that."

I felt a strange warmth enter my arm holding that blade, and found the strength to lift it upright, ready to strike.

"I'm sorry then."

I took one step forward, and the stranger seemed to vanish. All I caught was a glimmer of movement from the corner of my eye, but all too late. When his fist connected with my head, all I could hear was a "click", before the blow sent me flying into the wall.

I felt my body rise to its feet and saw in front of me the stranger again; his back turned walking away from me. The sword was still in my hand. After one step the stranger turned to face me, and I thought I saw a strange light flash beneath his mask for just an instant, before my body charged. Everything around me blurred as the stranger became the only thing I could see. I became aware of his body beginning to shift to one side and instantly my body reacted, pulling the broken sword from its sheath and throwing it at the masked man toward the side he was preparing to move. The instant he shifted back to avoid the blade, my body launched the new sword of Nelo's at my opponent. He seemed to not have time to dodge this one as well, but caught the sword by the blade instead. I felt an energy burst into my legs as when I fought the giant bang in Flaris, producing a speed greater than that which I had previously maintained, reaching within a few feet of the stranger almost instantly.

My balance and weight shifted and I found myself jumping, my feet connected with the hilt of the blade causing it to drive out of the masked one's grip and into his chest, with the sound of grinding metal. My body had landed on its feet and one hand once landed only for a short moment before it launched itself once again at the West Darkon fighter. Even with all my speed though, he recovered nearly instantly beating me to the ground with one swift punch, shaking my whole body. The stranger pulled the sword from himself and tossed it aside. My eyes connected with two glowing red and gold orbs from behind the holes in the mask, and the stranger let out a piercing shriek like a thousand aibats dying. My body only managed to get to its feet when the masked fighter enveloped my face with his large hand and long fingers, then drove me into the ground backwards. Suddenly I felt the heat and pain of being dragged across the arena floor at a running speed. My body could not react, though I could feel every sharp and devastating pain, I could not scream out. Finally I was lifted again then found myself spun around as the stranger did, and through his fingers I could see the wall just before he let go and I went crashing into it.

I was buried in the wall only for a moment before feeling a hard punch drive into my back, making me feel as though I would break in half. Still, I could not cry out or move, or control my own body. I felt a hand grasp my leg at the ankle and pull me out of the wall so fast I felt my leg come from its place slightly. The stranger whipped me down first, causing my skull to drag across the ground once more before taking to the air. He lifted me above him. Then, as we came down he swung me as though I were a hammer, into the ground. He loomed over me, and I was sure the end was here now as one hard punch landed. I nearly blacked out before hearing voices call out.

"Enough!"

The robed men were in the arena now and they cast their collective shield over me.

"You are the victor here stranger, please leave the arena and prepare for the final."

The stranger never took his glowing eyes off me. I thought I was safe until, with one punch, the shield broke sending shards of light to cascade over me.

"What are you doing?!" The men shouted, pulling their staves and rushing the masked man.

He beat them all away easily, only moving a few feet away before coming back towards me. I knew then he was not going to stop until he had killed me. A shadow came over me, but it wasn't the stranger's. The shadow belonged to Atrys Yob, who had dropped from the platform he was on with Lady Cerand. He landed between the stranger and where y body lay. Standing calmly he lifted his staff and layer after layer of golden light surrounded us both. this time when the strange man punched the shield, it held firm, causing him to stagger back some. Atrys tapped his staff back down on the dirt and the shield suddenly shifted and grew outward, but only in the direction of the stranger. It moved quickly and once it had connected it sent the other fighter flying back. The shield vanished as the stranger regained his feet.

"I implore you sir, accept your victory and move on. If you continue like this you will be ejected form the tournament and most likely arrested."

The man didn't answer, just charged leaving dust and dirt in his wake.

"Fool." Atrys muttered.

The shield was over us fully once again just as the charging man connected a punch with it. Atrys began making the shield shift again, but instead of sending the masked man into the ground, my opponent put both hands against it flat causing the shield to stop growing. A look of shock entered Atrys' face. His eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth trying to put more energy into the shield as the stranger pushed harder against it. Ripples began traveling out of the points his hands were, running throughout the entire shield. Neither man was gaining ground nor giving any. The shield began to flutter and Atrys gave out a great yell. Suddenly the shield exploded and blinding light filled the arena.

"Impossible." I heard Atrys whisper to himself.

The shield was totally gone, and the stranger was face down, yards away. A sound of shock filled the arena as the stranger began getting back up again. He was almost to his feet when I began feeling a heat. From above came a great flaming bird directly at where Atrys and I were, changing course in an instant t fly toward the masked one. He put his arms up as if to shield himself, but the flaming bird changed course again and began flying circles about him. Faster and faster the bird flew, lifting the man into the air. After a moment of having my opponent suspended, the bird emerged from the flaming cyclone into the air above it, but still continuing the tornado. The blazing eagle arched then came flying down in the middle of the vortex causing an enormous explosion sending tremors, and rubble through the whole arena.

When the smoke cleared, a man landed next to Atrys and held his hand out in front of him. From where the masked fighter lay unmoving, I could see a spear buried next to his body begin to glow then fly into the man's open hand. He turned to look at me and smiled.

"You're quite lucky sir Chen." Said Saint Mornings leader, Ashel.


	6. Stories and Secrets

**Stories and Secrets**

II awoke suddenly from the same dream that had woken me earlier that day. The same hall, the same breaking glass, everything.

"Hey champ."

I turned to see Nelo seated next to my bed.

"Champ? You mean I won?"

"No," Nelo said smiling. "but you fought well. The winner was a female fighter from West Darkon by the name of Rilg. First time participant. What with you being beaten and the masked one being disqualified and all. Quite an eventful tournament this year really. A new champion, and a new enemy…"

"Just what I need. I don't know why he wanted to kill me, but it was just like before."

"Before when?"

"With the nyangs and the bangs."

"How so?"

"You remember their eyes don't you? Their red glow?"

"Of course."

"He had it too. It was a little different, but it was the same too."

"Really…"

"Wait, where is he? I want to talk to him!"

"What?"

"He must know something, I don't know why I think it really, but I know it has to be true."

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"Lord Ashel has him locked up. He's interrogating him personally."

"Dammit!" I yelled, hitting a small table on the other side of the bed, knocking its contents to the ground. We both sat in silence for a moment.

"Come on Chen, we have to be somewhere."

"What for?"

"A guild meeting."

"Is that why you were gone?"

"Yeah. Het wanted me to get some things arranged for her."

"Het, the guild leader Het? What could she want to discuss?"

"I don't know, she just asked me to bring my most trusted man and to arrange a few other things. Come on, we should leave now or we may be late."

We arrived at a small house on the eastern edge of town. Nelo made a series of knocks and whispered to the woman who opened the door. We entered shortly after into the common room. There were a few people already gathered. The woman who opened the door went to stand beside another who was already seated. Nelo stepped forward and bowed to the young lady who was seated.

"I've made the arrangements as you asked."

"Very good Nelo. So this is your most trusted then? You competed in the tournament did you not?" She asked looking at me.

She was younger than I had expected, still looking very much like a girl. Her light hair in tails to the sides of her thin face, showed well her blue eyes beneath a set of huge eyeglasses.

"Yes ma'am."

"You did very well. I have to say your battle with Sefton was my favorite though. You were able to adapt to him and pull out a very impressive victory. It's no wonder you and Nelo are such friends."

There was a knock at the door prompting Het's assistant to answer. I didn't turn to look until the Scavenger's commander stood from her seat. Through the door came two cloaked figures. It wasn't until the door closed that they removed their hoods and we all bowed instinctively.

"Lady Cerand, thank you for coming." Het said.

"Please Het, I was the one who requested this audience with you. Is our other guest here yet?"

"He should be along shortly."

"Excellent."

Het directed Lady Cerand and Sir Yob to some seats, and within minutes there was another knock at the door. A man emerged in full armor, and already being a large man, nearly didn't fit through the doorway. His hair was short and dark, closely matted to his head. His dark narrow eyes quickly swept over us and then focused on Het. He seemed familiar to me.

"I've come as you asked Het."

"You've got the wrong idea Sir Geiox. Lady Cerand is the one who requested your presence here. To be perfectly honest, I am just as curious as to the reason behind this meeting as you are."

He redirected his gaze toward Cerand and Yob, then bowed slightly.

"Lady Cerand, if you would be so kind as to explain yourself now. I'm sure you know what with the upstart masked man in prison, I have business to attend to for Lord Ashel."

That was where I had seen him! I only noticed him once at the pre-tournament dinner, and up on Ashel's platform during it. Out of my excitement at the mention of the masked fighter I interrupted.

"Has he said anything?"

Everyone stared at me a moment.

"The prisoner?" Geiox asked.

"Yes. Have you gotten anything from him?"

"Well, no, not as of yet. He doesn't seem to talk much, and we have yet to determine who he is so far. I'm sorry but other than that, as Lord Ashel's second, I cannot discuss this with you anymore."

"Please sir, it's important!"

"Chen, that's enough." Nelo whispered.

I became quiet and decided to remain so for the remainder of the meeting.

"Chen, I'm sorry but for now, this is the way things must be. You will have your opportunity with the stranger I'm sure. Sir Geiox may not be at liberty to say, but the fact is the stranger attacked two representatives of Flaris. It's only a matter of time before Lord Ashel must allow Lady Cerand an investigation, that is, if she pushes for one." Het smiled.

"You have my word Chen." Cerand said, pausing only a moment before continuing. "Now, to the matter at hand. I've had het arrange for this meeting, because I have received information about some ruins discovered on this continent."

"Ruins?" Nelo asked.

"Yes. My information says little other than that, but we all know the value of the ruins that are scattered across Roika. Thanks to many of these ruins, most cities are at the current economical, technological, and military levels they are today."

"That only brings more questions…" Geiox began, but was cut off.

"Why would I bring to light this discovery?"

"Yes."

"I could very well have excavated the site and taken what could help my nation grow stronger by now if I wanted. However, improving strength is not always the best path to ensuring prosperity. I may be the first to know of these ruins, but I know I wouldn't be the sole owner of the knowledge. It could possibly be viewed by some, that an increase in our military powers, could make us more of a threat, and this incident could spark war. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I feel it is better to err on the side of prudence."

"Your point my lady?"

"My point sir, is this…the balance of power is delicate, and to avoid any shift in the scales, I ask that the Scavengers be the ones to excavate the ruins, before the discovery becomes more public."

"You'd be willing to give up the potential power?" Geiox asked.

"Power means little to me sir, but peace for my land means all."

In that instant I felt an incredible power come from that frail frame of Lady Cerand's.

"I'm still confused what my role in all this is. If your idea involves less people knowing about this, why involve me? Are you not worried I may feel obligated to report to Lord Ashel once this meeting is over?"

"No. I know how loyal you are to Lord Ashel, however, I also know that you believe as I do, and that your loyalty to Saint Morning is greater. This is the right course. I wanted you here to ensure that this project was looked after by all immediate parties. It is important to me that we have representatives of Saint Morning with the group we send."

There was silence in the room while all eyes were fixed on Geiox.

"Very well. I'll join the expedition."

"Thank you sir Geiox."

"So then, shall we discuss the plan?"

We all left for the ruins with some wagons masquerading as fellow merchants to those we traveled in convoy with during the post-tournament celebration. We split ways, claiming to be supplying the outpost further south. We arrived at the southern outpost and continued our charade there asking to stay the next two nights before returning to Saint Morning. We awaited Geiox who had to catch up from Saint Morning to avoid suspicion during the celebration.

There were five of us waiting in the hut the first night, waiting for Geiox's arrival. Two Scavengers from Saint Morning's branch with us were the twin sisters Krind and Dofo, sitting across from Nelo and I giggling quietly with each other. To my right, opposite the hut entrance, sat Lady Cerand's appointed man, Mepstet Robner. He rarely spoke, but spent most of his time stirring and staring at the small fire in the center of the hut.

"He's running a little late." Mepstet spoke abruptly, still never interrupting his activities with the fire.

"He may just have to catch up then I suppose." Nelo responded.

"As long as he comes alone."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Only that I objected to his being involved. Fair or not, we didn't need to bring him in on this. I'd much rather he know nothing, than risk him betraying Lady Cerand's trust."

"And where's your faith in that trust by the way?"

The quiet man's eyes immediately lept from the fire to Nelo's. I could feel a tension that needed to be relaxed, but didn't know how to do so.

"Now now boys, that's enough." Krind chimed in. "I have faith enough that Geiox would not betray us, and we've had far more dealings than either of you, with that man. "

"I pray that you're right. For all of our sakes." The man returned to his small fire.

"It doesn't seem likely that if he betrayed us, he would make it so obvious by bringing people with him, so as long as he didn't, what trouble would there be?" I asked.

While his face was turned down to the fire, I could still see a grin on Mepstet's face.

"Who is your friend Nelo? Do you have any idea who it is you're talking about? Geiox is the greatest single sword style fighter in all of Roika. Some would say that he is the strongest warrior as well. He has only ever been beaten in a match by his youngest brother. No, I'm afraid if he so wanted it, we would be lucky to survive, let alone win."

"I had no idea…but what about his brother then? Not that he's here, but you said he beat him?"

"Well, yes, but what good does that do anybody now?"

"What do you mean?"

The man looked at me a moment, a look of suspicion in his eyes.

"Where are you from Chen?"

I wasn't sure how to answer, but Nelo interjected.

"His brother is dead. Some say he's just missing, but I think most have given up on that idea except his brothers."

"Brothers?"

"Geiox had two younger brothers. Targos, and Argoein the youngest. Their parents died when they were all very young, leaving them to pretty much raise themselves with the help of Geiox's wife. Not only did they raise themselves, but they trained themselves as well. About eleven years ago they came up with the idea for a worldwide tournament, to test their own strengths against all others. Then, one year later it came. Geiox was then twenty, which would mean Targos was about seventeen, and Argoein would be ten. For the following three years, the Datri brothers sweeped the tournaments. More importantly, the top winner in the third tournament, was Argoein, with the two other brothers competing for runner up status."

"But he was only thirteen then!" I said astonished.

"Yes, but apparently a prodigy with a sword and shield. The three were an unstoppable trio. Unfortunately, word had spread soon after that, the brothers were fighting. Nobody knows for sure really. The only thing that is known, is that Geiox was called on by Lord Ashel shortly after the third tournament. The very day he went to meet with him apparently, Targos accompanied him, and the two of them left Argoein and Geiox's then pregnant wife at their family cabin. Word got back that the cabin was attacked. Later it was found that Geiox's wife was killed, and Argoein was missing. The only sign of him was his weapons left behind outside the cabin. After that, Geiox joined into Ashel's service, and nobody has really heard about Targos again."

"That's horrible."

"Quiet, somebody is coming." Mepstet whispered.

Krind stood and lifted the flap letting Geiox in.

"Apologies for my tardiness."

"Not a problem, but what kept you?" Nelo asked, seeing some concern on the man's face. "What did you say to get out here?"

"That I am searching for an escaped prisoner."

"Good cover."

"If it were a lie." Geiox looked at me and continued. "The masked fighter escaped custody and there are no leads as to his whereabouts. In a way this turn of events was somewhat fortuitous for me providing an alibi, however…"

"You think he might be after me?" I asked.

"I fear it is so."

"But who is he?"

"We don't know. West Darkon's leader swears she knows nothing, but just took on the man because he was such a strong fighter. We were in the process of removing his mask when he broke free. I think it best that we get as much rest as possible now, so we can set out early morning, agreed?"

We all nodded our heads and attempted rest for the night. I stayed up well through most the night. All I could do was think about the stranger. I was afraid of him, but at the same time I somewhat hoped to find him. He had answers to my past, I knew he did. When I finally began to doze off, the last thoughts I had were first of the stranger, but then of Flari's words the day before the tournament. It hadn't occurred to me until just then…he must have known something too.

Nelo woke me as the sun had just begun to cast its light over the horizon. Geiox told the guardsman at the outpost that we were volunteers to help him apprehend the escaped prisoner, and that his information said he was nearby. Under this ruse, we traveled to the west, past the trail leading into the vast desert south of us. Mepstet lead us over mountains, and through dense forests for most of the day.

"It should be close." He said at last.

We broke through the dense tree cover rather suddenly into a large clearing. There was no grass, and at the edge where the clearing met the tree line, the trees appeared to be bending away from the center. There was an odd smell here, and in the very center of the clearing, was a single petrified tree with a hole in its side. We approached slowly. It was deathly quiet, and Geiox came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Nelo asked.

"Move!" Geiox yelled suddenly, pushing me aside.

From the ground beneath where I stood dirt flew in all directions, and the masked stranger emerged. His head immediately shot in my direction, and the twin sisters stepped between us, each drawing a pair of daggers.

"Sorry stranger," Krind said with a smile. "But if you want this guy right here you're going to have to go through…"

Within the blink of an eye the masked man was upon us, sending Krind sideways with the back of his fist. A look of pure fury overtook the other girl's face and she began an assault on her sister's attacker. The stranger avoided her strikes easily enough until Krind recovered, catching the stranger across the face with a flying kick. He staggered back and before he could react, a bold of lightning struck him from the side, sending him toward the tree line.

"I suggest, ladies, that you go with Nelo and Chen into the ruins now. Leave this criminal to me and Geiox."

I watched as Mepstet put his bow before him, then kiss his middle and forefinger of his free hand. When he pulled the string back, a line of fire materialized from his fingers. He let go and an arrow of flame flew toward the stranger as he was coming to his feet. The man seemed to catch the arrow mid air, then snuffed it out with a twist of his hand.

"Well now…" Mepstet said surprised.

The stranger then charged the bowman, throwing a punch that Mepstet narrowly sidestepped. Mepstet quickly hooked his bow over the masked one's haead and around his neck, then pivoted throwing the other man into the ground. Trying to work fast, he then drew his bow string back. Blowing on his finger, a bolt of ice formed and let it fly, striking the earth where the stranger's head had been a split second before.

The masked man picked himself up on his hands and spun his body, kicking Mepstet's feat out from beneath him. His body hadn't even hit the ground before the stranger returned to a stand and sent his opponent through the air with a kick to his abdomen. Our comrade hit the dirt and clenched his stomach, the air knocked out of him while West Darkon's fighter lept at him relentlessly.

He was nearly on top of Mepstet until Geiox stepped in, his sword drawn and his other arm lifted in the air. Starting at the middle of his forearm, a shiled of light began to form, growing outward until its diameter was the entire length of his arm. The stranger's attack was deflected easily, then Geiox attacked. It was the first time I had seen such movements nearly match the speed and ferocity of the stranger's own. A well connected swing cracked the man's mask, sending a chunk of iron into the ground. What was uncovered was a single glowing gold and red eye.

"All of you go now! We don't have time for this!" Geiox yelled.

"No!" The hollow voice from behind the mask rang out as he turned to me.

He took one step toward me when Geiox swung once more connecting with the man's face, completely shattering the mask, sending iron all over. The stranger grasped his face with one hand while holding himself with the other on one knee. A strange dark substance fell from between the man's fingers, steaming on the earth. He finally removed his hand and looked up at all of us.

"What the hell are you?" Geiox asked with a look of horror shadowing his face.

The twin sisters had begun moving, pulling me along to the hollowed tree as I looked back at my pursuer. The red glow from his eyes were now gone, showing instead two black, completely human eyes in nature. His mouth was slightly open, revealing two rows of jagged sharp teeth. The hair was patches all over the top of his head. Some pitch black, but with one or two of a light brown coloring, like that of sand. His skin was of a dark green coloring and had a harsh look of it, resembling scales of a peaky turtle.

"Wait…" I whispered as we entered the hollow, the girls almost dragging me inside. "I…know him…"

We had entered a dual path room at the bottom of the long and steep set of stairs leading from the tree hollow entrance. Between the two entrances was a stone with figures that were carved into it.

"What language is that do you think?" Krind asked.

"Never seen anything like it." Mepstet replied. "What about you Nelo?"

"No…I can't say that I have." He answered, a strange look on his face.

As I looked at the figures on the stone, they began to shift before my eyes.

"Hey!" I yelled, pointing at the stone.

"What?" Mepstet asked.

"You, didn't see that?"

"See what?"

"The runes, they shifted a little."

"What are you talking about? They haven't changed at all."

I looked again at the runes, and realized he was right. They were completely unchanged.

"Well which way then?" Krind asked.

"You two take the left. Nelo, Chen, and I will take the right."

"You think we should split up?"

"I normally wouldn't, but with that freak up there with Geiox, I'd rather just hurry this expedition along. That guy is the only one I've ever seen beside his brothers with abilities that could match Geiox's. After seeing him break Atrys' shield…come on, we better hurry."

We began a hurried pace down our path, and the sisters down their own. The tunnel was cluttered with dead brambles and vines, forcing us to cut our way through. The same smell from above ground was becoming stronger the further that we walked. We came to a single doorway at the end of the tunnel, with another runed tablet, just above the steel door. I stared at the tablet, and thought again that the figures had begun to rearrange.

"I guess, we should open it." Mepstet said reaching for the handle.

Suddenly it turned on its own, causing us all to jump back. The door slowly swung open. We breathed a sigh of relief as it was the twin sisters who greeted us.

"Hello boys." Krind said with a smirk.

"How did you get in here?" Mepstet asked.

"The other tunnel lead to a second door into this same room."

We all entered and found ourselves in a completely metallic room. On the wall opposite of us was a row of ten glass containers. Scattered about the room were strange tools, papers, and control consoles. Mepstet began walking along the row of containers starting at the left, inspecting each one only to find them empty. As he was doing this, I finally remembered the stranger. The black eyes, the sandy brown hair. I knew his face because I had looked at it almost every day.

"Nelo! It's him! The stranger, it's the missing person!"

Krind asked, "What missing person?"

Mepstet came to the final container, which unlike the others, was covered in frost. He began wiping away at it, then stopped, taking a step back. He whipped around on me and screamed.

"What the hell is going on here!?"

I looked up at him and then the capsule. Inside, what I saw, was me. Then all I could hear was a "click", like both times in the past, like the ticking of a clock, before all went dark.

Above ground, Geiox and the stranger were still locked in battle, neither gaining any real ground.

"You're a fool Geiox. You have no idea what it is you're dealing with."

"I don't need to know anything more about you."

"It's not me I'm speaking of."

The ground began to quake all about them, the trees began to uproot and the earth was cracking in places.

"Now, it's too late." The stranger said, turning his back on Geiox.

The shaking not only reached to the city of Saint Morning itself, but to every other continent as well.

"What's going on!?" Lady Cerand asked a guardsman.

"I don't know my lady."

"Look!" A shout rang out as another soldier pointed toward the river.

Everybody's gazes followed to the large cog that lay there, just as it began to turn.

"My lady! Reports are coming in from all over Flaris that all of the cogs are now turning!"

"What!?"

She looked back at the cog as it turned faster and faster, ripping itself form the ground, it took to the air and headed north.

In an observation station on a hill to the west of Flaris city, Noier watched several cogs flying toward the northern end of the continent through his telescope. When they stopped, six cogs became interconnected forming a sort of circle, and began turning in unison while standing upright, suspended in the air.

"It cannot be." Noier whispered in horror.


	7. Truth of All Matters

**Truth of All Matters**

The Scavenger flagship was stopped in the air south of the three continents on neutral territory, surrounded on each side by the flagships of the four cities. All ships were flying smaller white flags under their own. Deep inside the Scavenger flag ship, a meeting was taking place the likes of which rarely happened.

"Just allow me to get one thing straight Lady Cerand," Ashel began, with clear agitation in his voice. "You used the tournament as a ruse to move in and steal possibly dangerous technologies from some ruins in my own lands?"

"We have been over this already Lord Ashel. You may turn my words to your hearts content, but the truth remains the same, regardless of spin." Cerand replied, cold as ice.

"I'm just trying to figure out if this "truth" you speak of is any more than just your word, because as of late it would seem that has depreciated in value."

Several people around the room shot out of their seats. The only thing keeping Atrys from doing the same was Cerand's firm grip.

"That is enough Ashel." West Darkon's leader, a woman with brown and lightly orange hair, spoke out.

"Enough you say? You're quite right Elleon. Perhaps we should be taking a closer look at your own actions other than Cerand's. After all, it is one of your own fighters who is right at the heart of this whole situation, is it not?"

"We have discussed this sir, you know how the local tournaments have always been open. He entered, and won, automatically placing him in the main tournament."

"Even while you had no idea who this man was?"

"Might I remind you that most tournament participants are fairly unknown to everybody? Even…"

"Oh do go on Lady Elleon. Or was your example going to be none other than the one known as Chen? Yes, that would certainly be one grand example. Nobody knows anything about him, and from what I hear, neither does he. Now, we find him also in the middle of all the most recent events, yet unable to tell us anything, as he has been comatose since he was recovered from the excavation site."

"So his status is unchanged still Lady Cerand?" Asked East Darkon's leader.

She took her eyes of Ashel to look the other man in his dark eyes.

"Unfortunately Lord Chiyu, he has not yet woken up."

"And does Geiox have no information he can contribute to this particular situation?"

"No. He says that he was above ground fighting with the masked one while the others were down in the ruins." Ashel replied.

A messenger came to Ashel and began whispering in his ear.

"Bring him in quickly. It would seem that we may be awarded at least some luck in all this. A survivor has just arrived."

Mepstet Robner came running into the room, stopping only at Cerand, where he bowed deeply.

"My lady, I apologize for what has happened here."

She kneeled in front of him, putting both hands on his shoulders.

"You have nothing to apologize for sir. I believe that the events that have transpired were well beyond anybody else's control. Please stand."

The man rose to his feet, still unable to look Cerand in the eyes.

"What do you have to report sir?"

"Yes, please tell us what happened when you entered the ruins." Ashel asked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what light I can shed on things. Most of what happened still makes no sense to me."

"Just start with the moment you separated from Geiox, as we have his account up to that point."

"Well, we, that is the sisters Krind and Doof, Nelo, Chen, and myself all entered the hollow petrified tree. The two original paths had both ended in the same metal room. Inside the room was many strange capsules along the opposite wall, and some strange consoles in the center of the room."

"That's all you found?" Ashel asked.

"Not entirely, no. even while the room didn't seem to have much of interest, the last capsule was frosted over, so I went to inspect it. The thing is though, that when I wiped away some frost, the person that was inside was Chen."

"How did Chen get inside the capsule?"

"He didn't."

"Then how…"

"My lord, I'm sorry, I can only tell you what I saw. Inside the room with us, was Chen, the very man that competed in your tournament. However, inside the chamber, was another him, or some thing that looked exactly like him. That's when things got confusing."

"I can see why."

"That's not exactly what I meant. You see it was only at this point that Chen, that is, the on in the room with us, started to act differently. He went to one of the main consoles, and did nothing more than touch them, when lights in the room began to flicker. The capsule began defrosting and there was electricity shooting all within it, until it exploded, stunning me. When I next looked up Chen was leaving, and the door shut closed on its own. As hard as the sisters or I tried, we couldn't open the doors. That's when the entire structure began to quake, the console exploded knocking me out. It wasn't until I awoke that I found the sisters saved me, but perished themselves for it. For that I am deeply sorry madam Nithiw."

She could not speak back, but became lost in grief.

"So it was Chen who is responsible for all this then?"

"It would seem so."

Lady Cerand immediately made her way to leave, followed by Atrys and several others.

"Prepare the ship! We're going home immediately!" She yelled.

"Lady Cerand! I would like to accompany you." Ashel said as many of the same requests came from the other two leaders.

"Very well." Cerand answered before leaving.

The hall was nearly empty but Mepstet caught Geiox before he left.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Mepstet asked.

"Chen is in Flaris."

"What!?"

"We thought he was simply comatose."

"Gods…"

Geiox turned to leave once more but was stopped.

"Wait. Before he changed, he said he recognized the masked man. It took me a while to figure what he ment when he said missing person, but then I remembered…"

"He said that?"

"Yes, but, could he really be him? I mean it's been…"

"Seven years. Could it…the way he fought…I just don't know."

Both men were called to their respective nation's flagships and they left each others company, each deep in thought.

I awoke suddenly and found myself in a strange room. I tried to move my head and take a look around, but found to my dismay that control was not mine. My body rose of its own and scanned the area. I was only vaguely aware that what my body searched for was not in the present room. I found myself being navigated all over what ever structure I was in. none of the turns and paths seemed to lead any place specific, yet I knew that there was reason behind the direction.

Some time later I found myself in a large chamber filled with the smell of metal and steam. I was standing on a metal, railed walkway, and below me was an enormous machine that protruded out an opening in the structure. Connected to the main body of the machine were several large tubes that were fed from holes leading to the outside. I could hear voices coming from below.

"Check the power output!"

"Done, it's at eighty percent and holding."

"Lady Cerand is on her way back early. Make sure that Bobor's Light is ready to fire once she is!"

"Aye sir!"

Bobor's Light? I had no idea that something like this could be found anywhere within the fortress known as Bobor.

"Lady Cerand!"

"Yes, what is it?"

"We're getting notice of activity in the gear circle. A report came in that there was a light as the gears began spinning faster. Now, there are some objects emerging from the centers."

"Objects?"

"We're still waiting for authentication ma'am…"

A moment later, another soldier ran in with a sheet of paper he handed to the first. The man glanced over the report that was one single word, and dropped the paper.

"What is it sir?"

The soldier looked up horrified. "Clockworks…"

Ashel stood from his seat immediately. "Turn this ship around now! We're heading back for Saint Morning. Send word to scramble the fleet! We're going to need every able body in the city ready to pick up arms. Gods help us all…"

Ashel's flagship was the first to break away, with the other two following suit soon after as word spread to each leader.

There was an increased bustle of activity, in the section of the room below me.

"Did you say Clockworks!?"

"Yes, we've received word to not wait for Lady Cerand. We are to aim Bobor's Light for the gear portal and take it out now!"

"You heard him men, lets get moving!"

I heard a step from behind me on the walkway and spun myself quickly to see an old man, covered in grease and dirt with a wrench in his hand.

"I don't think you're supposed to be here son." He took a step closer, then stopped abruptly. "Wait, aren't you…"

My hands shot out as if I were smashing a bug, and I could only watch on in disgust as the old man's head nearly vanished in a light red mist between my hands. I gripped the railing and my body launched itself over the side, to land on the apparent weapon, Bobor's Light.

"Charge and fire!" A shout rang out.

Chambers all over the weapon began to shine with a bright blue light.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing up there?"

I raised one hand high above my head, knelt and felt all the force in my body transfer into my clenched fist as I brought it down into the weapon, puncturing a section of it. Once it released its energy, there was a great explosion of light, knocking me unconscious.

From below the air fortress Bobor, citizens could see blue light streaming out of its massive canon, sprinkling its explosive power all over the countryside.

Finally, Lady Cerand arrived and hurriedly went to the room they had left Chen. A few of the engineers, recovering from the explosion found their way to her to report what happened. Looking upon the broken weapon caused everyone's hearts to drop.

"Can you fix it?" Lady Cerand asked the chief engineer.

"I believe we can, but I can't say how long it could take."

"Start immediately and any extra personnel you need is yours. We must get Bobor's Light functional again!"

"Yes my lady!"

A messenger arrived and bowed to Cerand.

"My lady, reports say that the clockworks have stopped coming through the portal finally."

"Their numbers?"

"Well into the thousands, and they have a Gigas class with them. They are approaching very slowly, so it will be some time before we're in range of the Gigas' beam weapon."

"Is there any report of Chen?"

"I have received none my lady, but the chances of any man surviving at the point of an explosion like that are nonexistent."

"Until I see a body, I can't risk assumptions at this point. Search everywhere."

"Yes Lady Cerand."

Cerand began breathing heavily, her face drenched in sweat. Atrys came closer.

"Dwin, are you alright?" He whispered.

Before she could answer, she collapsed.

"Dwin!"

Word spread quickly of Lady Cerand's worsened condition, and all the remaining non-combatants of Flaris gathered below Bobor to give their prayers. Meanwhile, preparations were still being made for the upcoming battle. Even in her weakened state, Cerand called for a meeting.

I woke again in a room I did not recognize. I felt weak and could not move much but my head to look about. There was a figure sitting in a chair next to me. I tried focusing my eye, finding the other was covered in bandages. The figure stood.

"Chen!"

I smiled, and nearly wept at the sound of her familiar voice.

"Mikyel…"

I felt her hand on my own, but could not grip back completely.

"What am I doing here?" I asked.

"I found you in the river, just after the explosion on Bobor."

"Explosion!"

Everything flooded back to me and I tried sitting up but didn't have the strength.

"Mikyel, please leave me…"

"What? I will not!"

"Please! You don't understand…"

"I'm not going to leave you like this Chen. You're injured and…"

"I think I found who I am Mikyel."

"What?"

"I'm no soldier, or some great warrior. I'm a monster."

"How can you say that?"

"It told me. Maybe not in such words…but it didn't have to."

"What told you?"

"The thing inside me. The thing that grabs a hold of this body and makes it do such terrible things. The thing that caused that explosion in the fortress. The thing that knows nothing but to destroy whatever it sees."

"I don't believe you would…"

"Dammit Mikyel! Don't you understand? I don't matter! I am just a puppet to this entity within me!"

"No Chen, if that were true…"

"That's not even my name. I remember it all now. The sign in the ruins. I know why I was the only one who saw the runes change. It was in my language, or this beings language. I am a toy, a prototype, and I wasn't the first. There were eight before me. Eight other nameless puppets."

"I don't understand…"

"Clockwork Human Experiment Nine…"

Mikyel stepped back quickly, knocking over her chair. Her hands covered her mouth, and tears came to her eyes.

"No…"

My vision was blurred once again but this time by tears of my own.

"You see now? I am the enemy!"

Mikyel rushed back to where I lay, and threw her arms about me.

"No, you can't be Chen. Clockworks have no heart, no soul, no feelings. But I have seen all these things in you already!"

"Mikyel…"

"No! I don't care if that was what you were, or what you were meant to be. You are still you! You control what you make of your destiny. You don't have to be a tool of the clockworks!"

The two of us stayed that way for what seemed forever, until I could feel my limbs once more.

"I don't want to be used again."

Mikyel looked up at me with tears still in her eyes. I wiped them away with great effort, and then struggled to sit up.

"I'm going to need your help though."

"With what?"

"I need to see Lady Cerand."

"But, in your condition…"

"It doesn't matter. I have to go now, or I won't get another chance."

"What about the guards? In her current state, they won't listen to anything you have to say, or even let you near her."

"I have to try Mikyel. Will you help me?"

She took only a moment then smiled.

"Yes."

With her help, I got to my feet and together we slowly went one step at a time.

"What did you mean by, her current state?" I asked.

Suddenly the door burst open and the room filled with light. I squinted and strained my eyes until I could finally see him clearly. The stranger.

Lady Cerand sat, using much of her strength just to keep upright while the hall filled with most of her commanding officers. Atrys as always right at her side.

"You have a visitor Dwin." Atrys whispered.

Into the large hall stepped Geiox Datri.

"Lady Cerand." Geiox bowed.

"Geiox? What are you doing here sir?"

"Lord Ashel is convinced that my presence won't be needed in the battle with the clockworks on Saint Morning, and so after hearing of your condition, thought I should lend my services here."

"Ashel sent you to spy."

"My lady…" Geiox began, looking down.

"You're a far greater man than that which you serve Geiox."

There was a commotion just outside the hall. The two guards closest the doorway disappeared for a moment, only to come flying back through. Shortly after, the stranger entered the hall with Chen and Mikyel close behind.

"You!" Mepstet yelled, pulling his bow, and letting two bolts of lightning fly toward Chen, only to be stopped by the stranger.

"Lets not start this again Robner." The stranger said with a crooked smile.

Every soldier in the room drew his weapon and surrounded the three intruders. The stranger almost seemed eager for the challenge as he got into a fighting stance.

"Wait!" Lady Cerand yelled.

The men lowered their weapons, but did not put them away. Chen studied the hall, having never been in this part of the fortress before. The only thing to really catch his eye was at the far end of the hall opposite of Mikyel and himself. Three statues, each one depicting what looked like some sort of jesters or clowns.

"Why have you come here stranger, and why do you keep the company that you do?" Cerand asked.

"They must have been working together from the start! The stranger must have been at those ruins to distract Geiox while Chen activated the gears!" Robner shouted.

"That's enough Mepstet. Though I do admit that the two of you coming in here together does seem quite suspicious."

"As I recall, I was the only one trying to stop this from coming. You should have let me kill him when I had the chance."

"Yet now you're comrades?"

"Whether this man dies or lives at this point has no interest to me. The real enemy has risen again. Do with him as you please, but I would suggest you listen to him first."

The stranger walked to the nearest wall and sat, leaning back against it. The soldiers nearest him, still holding their weapons out.

"My lady, I would like to ask, where is Nelo?" Chen asked.

"Nobody has seen him since the collapse of the ruins. I am sorry. Now I have a question of my own Chen…why?"

"Lady Cerand, I don't know if I have an answer that will help. I can tell you it was never any intention of mine to put you all in such danger."

"Then why Chen?"

"Since I awoke in this land, there has been a power within me. It wasn't until recently that I understood the nature of that power. Lady Cerand…I am a clockwork."

Whispers of shock and disbelief traveled through the hall.

"How?"

"I don't entirely know. All I know is that I am the ninth experiment at making a human type clockwork. The final prototype. Since the explosion of Bobor's Light, I have lost connection with whatever power held me in its grasp. However, while it did control me, I learned things. This is the fifth rising of the clockworks isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Well, until now, all you have been fighting were puppets. There is only on true clockwork. One brain behind the actions of all the others that hasn't shown itself. That's why each time you have won, it has never been a permanent victory, and it never shall be. Not until you destroy the one controlling all the others. This will be the only chance you have. Originally I was only meant to gather information on the human forces on Roika. Now however, the clockwork believes that it has what it needs to win."

"What?"

"The tenth body. Each of these bodies are capable of incredible amounts of power, even greater than that of the typical clockwork puppets you have fought in the past. The master plans on binding itself within the tenth body. The ability I had while it controlled me remotely, are nothing compared to how strong it will be once it has its own body."

"How can it believe that will be all it needs? What is so different about your body from the others aside from appearing human?"

"The others are limited in power to their inherent metal bodies. The true power in these bodies is the same thing that makes you humans so formidable. Your spirit."

"Spirit?"

"My body is infused with a spirit of its own, though I know not how."

The entire hall was silent except for the stranger's heavy breathing. Then, there was a darkness that entered the room. Everyone looked about, confused as the sun wand sky were still quite clear through the windows. In the center of the room, a figure began to materialize. When the darkness lifted, the room was then engulfed in light. Finally the room returned to normal. Chen stared at the figures standing in the room, then looked at the statues at the end of the hall. The two matched. Nearly everyone fell to their knees.

"Who…" Chen whispered to himself.

The first figure, had a strange glow around his fat body, and those near him could feel a warmth from him. He was wearing a ridiculous, mostly red and purple shirt and pants that were large and baggy, even on his body, with frills about the neck and wrists. On his head a large red hat with four long trunks stemming from the top, hung toward the front, sides, and back of his head. His entire smiling face seemed painted white. He turned to Lady Cerand and bowed.

"It is an honor to finally meet you my lady."

"Oh, do shut up Bobor." The second stranger chimed in.

She was quite different from the comical figure next to her. She stood with one hand against her hip, looking over everyone with an almost bored look in her black eyes. This one was wearing long black boots that reached up to her bare thighs. She was covered by little else, but a strangely deep red sort of corset that had three long and pointy tails to each of its sides. On her arms were long crimson gloves covering from fingertips nearly up to her shoulders, which were bare as well save for an odd black collar she wore. The hat she wore, like her companions, was also red, but for the white ends of the two protruding pieces that looked like the legs of an insect. Her face was not painted white, but had deep purple streaks from the bottom of her eyes, to the edges of her lips. Strangely, she seemed to absorb the light around her.

"What are they?" Chen whispered to Mikyel.

"They're the gods of light and darkness." Mikyel answered.

"Gods?"

"Yes. The fat one is Bobor, the fortress' namesake and god of light. Then, she is the goddess of darkness, Shadow."

"That's correct girl." Shadow spoke out. "Now if you know that much, perhaps you would be able to tell me who brought us here?"

Mikyel's body began to tremble as Shadow's gaze pierced into her. She looked as though she would faint, when the stranger stood, his back still against the wall. He reached into his ragged cloak and produced two small idols, carved to look just like the gods Shadow and Bobor.

"You have the nerve to call upon us gods!" Shadow shouted, shaking the room.

The stranger only laughed.

"Enough!" Lady Cerand strained out before being overtaken by a coughing fit.

Bobor turned to the stranger.

"So now, what is it we're here for?"

"Being gods, I'm sure you already know the reason."

"You wish to call upon us to help you with your war." Shadow spoke out of turn.

"You and I both know that this war reaches well beyond just us." The stranger sneered.

A look of shock overtook the goddess' face before answering.

"You seem to know a great deal about us stranger. Might I ask how such knowledge came to you?"

"There is a vast library of knowledge to be found beyond the clouds."

"Beyond the clouds?"

"Please…" Cerand spoke softly. "Can you help us?"

"We can. Though the capacity to which is far more limited than any of you realize."

"How?"

"They have no physical presence." The stranger cut in. "They can only temporarily possess a body if they want to effect something themselves. They are not quite so powerful as their brother."

Shadow clenched her teeth and let out a strange growling noise at the stranger.

"You mean Ipuli?"

"Yes. Of the three gods, the god of balance, Ipuli, was given the most power. This was to ensure things stayed relatively stable in Roika. To be honest, I was somewhat hoping that he would come when I summoned these two."

"You…" Shadow began, but was interrupted.

"As you said, he is the most powerful of us. If he doesn't wish to be found, then he isn't. And if he doesn't wish to be someplace, than he won't be found there. So now I'm curious stranger, exactly how would you have us help? You know enough about the gods obviously to know that our own existences run the same path as your own, so we must participate, however you also know how limited we are in our ability to do so. We can both inhabit bodies, giving your army two more powerful soldiers for some time, but what true good would that do?"

"None." The stranger answered simply.

"Then what is your plan?"

"I didn't summon you here to have you each inhabit different bodies. I want you both to inhabit a single one."

"What!?"

"With both of your essences combined in one vessel, you should have a chance to destroy the master clockwork, and end their existence once and for all."

"Both of us can not exist within the same body at the same time!"

"You can when the body is strong enough."

"You may have the body stranger," Shadow interjected. "But that's only half of the equation. We must bind ourselves to a soul, and you seem to be short of one of those. The price of power is a high one isn't it?"

"I never had any intention of letting you reside in my body woman, even if I were a valid candidate. No, I had someone else in mind." The stranger said pointing at Chen, then continuing. "After all, what better candidate could there be than a clockwork body, with a strong human spirit?"

"You bastard!" Mikyel yelled. "How could you pretend to help us, just to set Chen up for this?"

"Stupid girl, this is about survival!"

"But…"

Chen stood up straight on his own, and turned Mikyel to face him.

"Mikyel, he's right. I have to do this."

"You could die Chen!"

"If I do nothing, that's an inevitability anyways. This way, I can help, and I have to make up for the past. It's not every day people get that sort of chance."

Chen put his arms around Mikyel as she cried into his chest. Just then, a soldier came in.

"The clockworks are nearly within known beam range of the Gigas' beam!"

"Are the soldiers set?" Atrys asked.

"Yes sir, they're across the northern bridges and awaiting orders."

"And what of Bobor's Light?"

"They still don't have it up, with no guesses as to when either."

"Very well, join your company. That goes for the rest of you as well."

The hall began to empty, leaving only a handful of people behind. Chen pushed Mikyel away and looked in her eyes.

"I have to do this now."

Chen turned to face the gods Shadow and Bobor.

"I'm ready."

The gods stood side by side, and simultaneously plunged their hands into Chen's heart. Howling winds filled the room, with Chen in the center of them. The storm subsided, and the gods were no longer in the room. Mikyel went to his side.

"Chen?"

"Chen is with us, and he is fine."

Chen opened his eyes causing Mikyel to step back. Within his normal grey eyes, were rings of black and gold.

"We are one, and we have much power in this vessel. We know where it is we must go."

"Please…hurry…" Lady Cerand said before collapsing.

Atrys hurriedly picked up his love's body and moved her to an adjoining room. Chen turned to leave as well, but was stopped by Mikyel.

"Wait. Chen can hear me right?"

"Yes."

"I have something I want to say to him."

The stranger left the room and found himself on balcony area facing to the north.

"Argoien?"

The stranger turned to face Saint Morning's captain Geiox.

"It is you isn't it? I don't know why it took me so long to see it. Chen knew almost right away, but it's been so long I almost forgot. It really is you though. I can see it in your eyes now."

Geiox placed his hands on the stranger's shoulders only for an instant before the man sent Geiox to the ground, striking him across the face.

"You are a sentimental fool Geiox. You call me by that name, but it is the name of a ghost. That boy died the same day as your wife and child."

"No! I don't believe you! How can you say that?"

"Take a good look at me. It is only a matter of time before what little human remains of me is gone, along with the soul that was required for this to happen."

"Why would you do this to yourself?"

"The greatest reason…power."

"You never needed power! You were always the strongest of us!"

"You know nothing! And you never will."

"Wait…brother…"

With that, the stranger leapt over the balcony railing and became a dot on the ground below. Geiox looked up again in time to see one small ship heading East, while all the others prepared to head toward the oncoming battle. As Geiox left to join the soldiers for battle, he passed Mikyel, leaving her alone in the hall as she fell to her knees in tears.


	8. The Final Battle

**The Final Battle**

"You have courage to venture in here alone."

The demon man looked around him, surrounded by the glowing red eyes various true demons, gathered in a large hall of dark stone. Hisses and shrieks echoed throughout the cavernous room. The man then looked up into the large glowing eyes of the wormlike demon before him as it spread open its long spiny winged arms.

"Oh?"

"You are strong, I can see that. However, to all of us, you are nothing."

"I didn't come here for a fight. I came to ask a question."

"A question?"

"Are you frightened?"

"What!?"

"If you are not frightened, then why do you hid in this cave?"

"Serus Uriel hides from nothing!"

"Then why do you stay in your dungeon? I can feel that you all know what has arisen. I can feel your hate as if it were my own."

"But it isn't fool! You may have parts of us in you, but do not pretend you know how we feel."

"I don't need to pretend. I can feel your fury washing over me just speaking to you. It has been some time since the third rising. Since you broke the hold the Clockworks had over your people. They used many demons as their own instruments of war against the humans, until you freed yourselves."

"We have no desire to help the humans."

"Do you truly believe that the humans are all the Clockworks are after? Those machines yearn for nothing less than the destruction of all life on Roika. When the humans are gone, you and your people will be next, and you won't last long. You can spawn as many of your lost as you'd like, but you won't be able to keep the pace up. The drain on you will be too great. Now is your one and only chance to fight. Fight for your survival, and take revenge on the things that dared control you. Or don't. Stay in your dungeon and just wait for the end. The choice is yours."

"I still don't understand what we're doing here!" Mepstet yelled over the high winds, standing on the deck of an airship. "There's nothing on Death Island but demons!"

"No. I can feel it. Deep inside the island. It is gathering power. The Clockworks." Chen said.

"If you say so. Well, point me where you want us to land and I'll let you off."

"No need." Chen said, jumping over the side.

"What the…" Mepstet stared as the vessel of the gods plummeted toward the island. "Good luck Chen."

Geiox looked north, across the fields of Flaris, toward his oncoming enemies. An army of mechanical man sized beings all gathered around the Gigas class, the giant quadraped.

"This is it." Geiox looked around him at the gathered men and drew his sword. "All we can do is buy time."

Geiox stepped out ahead of the front line of soldiers and turned to face Flaris' army.

"We all know what is at stake here. We can not let them get within range of Bobor! It took too long to gather our forces to launch an attack. That means we'll be charging right within the range of the Gigas. The only chance we're going to have of cutting our losses will be if those of us that can cast Assist class spells, make sure to use running support magics, just as it's charging to fire. The margin for error on this is nonexistent! Our only chance of effectively holding them off will be if we can reach in close quickly."

"Good plan."

Geiox turned about.

"Argoein!"

"Although with your casters having to keep up multiple speed boosts at once, they're going to be somewhat exhausted by the time you all get over to the enemy. They may as well die in the run. Of course, even with the boost in speed, there's no guarantee you'll all make it over there. Your speed will be great enough to avoid a second shot, but the destruction of the first will be great."

"It's a risk we have to take."

"I'll clear the field for you. Do try and keep up. It will be hectic over there though…make sure you don't get in my way."

"What?"

Argoein turned and let out a piercing howl before breaking into a run straight for the Clockwork army.

"Dammit…charge!" Geiox yelled.

As the distance between Flaris' army and the Clockworks began to close, Geiox could see in the distance, the Gigas' beam charging to fire when suddenly, swarms of demons began falling into the left and right flanks of the enemy army, calling the blast of the Gigas to the demons.

"Incredible….now!"

The feet of each soldier charging across the field began to glow with yellow light as the army increased its speed. Even so much faster than previously, Geiox noticed they weren't gaining on his brother. Instead Argoein pulled away even more, and when he was just past three quarters of the field he leapt into the air, then came crashing down somewhere in the center of the Clockworks. The mechanical monsters were so bus with the demons that Flaris' soldiers went unnoticed until they crashed into them like a wave, spilling iron and blood over the front lines.

Down, more and more, deeper and deeper into the earth the vessel of the gods Chen went. There was a faint light that grew brighter the farther down the seemingly endless staircase. Upon reaching the bottom, Chen looked into the lit room, and saw the tenth body sitting in a giant chair with strange tubes linked to it. The machine suddenly opened its eyes and spoke.

"Number nine, what is it you are doing here?"

"Should we say something?" Chen asked the gods within him.

"Are you stupid? Now is our best chance to destroy this thing!" Shadow answered.

Chen felt a power in his legs like that in the tournament. He felt the speed course through him as he rocketed from the place he stood toward his previous master. Even at such speed, the Clockwork Master effortlessly plucked him up into the air by the neck and threw him into a wall off to one side.

"I see now. That explosion must have fully woken your consciousness. Surely you must know though, that no mere puppet body, even with a soul can match my power. You will die here. Then all the worlds pathetic humans will die as well, starting with those in Flaris."

Chen charged again, this time being thrown into the high ceiling. He began to come back down when the Clockwork raised one open hand above him.

"You fool. We may both have the same bodies, but that is not the same as being able to fully utilize their abilities. I am no mere prototype. I am The Clockworks!"

Suddenly, the end joints of the master's fingers seemed to detach from the rest, to reveal a metallic section between the flesh. A strange humming sound filled the room, as electricity began pouring out of those metal sections into the Clockwork's palm.

"What on Roika?" Shadow echoed in Chen's mind.

Once the electricity formed a ball, it shot out of the Clockwork's hand, striking Chen in the chest.

Mepstet was still aboard a Crimson Shield light ship when there was an explosion on the ground below.

"Take us closer!" He ordered.

The ship came down to a dozen feet above where the explosion was, and where Chen was laying closeby.

"Chen!"

There was another, smaller, explosion a few feet away. When the dust cleared, Mepstet stared upon the tenth body he found in the ruins now floating in the air.

"Great. Which one is which?" Robner whispered.

Chen struggled to all fours and took one look at his enemy, hovering just above the ground then dropped his head again.

"What is going on?" Bobor asked within Chen. "We have the same bodies, but how is it that he is this much more powerful? With Shadow and I here we should be strong enough to fight this beast."

"You're gauging our powers as though we were in a human body. While in a body, we may bring out all the potential and dormant abilities that they otherwise can't, but this body is different. It's the Clockwork's toy after all. It's only natural that the master would know how to use it fully." Shadow explained.

"True, but then…"

"This is Chen's job."

"What?" Chen asked.

"You're holding back."

"I thought as much, but, why Chen?" Bobor now asked.

"I'm sorry. I just…I don't want to lose control. What if the Clockwork takes over again?"

"You sniveling weakling!" Shadow screamed.

"Shadow!"

"You shut your blubbering mouth Bobor! Here he was talking about making up for past mistakes, but when he agreed to be our vessel, he thought his work was done. Come to find out you have something you truly need to contribute, but now you're having second thoughts. You want to know what happens if the Clockwork Master takes over again? The same thing that will happen if you don't even try."

The Clockwork human lifted its hand again, and began charging electricity into its palm once more. This time however, it set its aim for the nearby airship.

"Pull up!" Mepstet barked.

"Look Chen! We aren't even viewed as a threat. Clockwork is going to destroy that ship and all the people on board unless you wake up and take control of your life right now!"

A light began to form in one of Chen's eyes. He lifted his head to face the clockwork, and a beam of energy shot out suddenly striking the other's arm just as he released the electric attack, barely missing the airship. Chen rose to his feet.

"Now, we're ready." The three entities within him echoed.

Geiox knew that even with the demons helping in the battle, they were slowly losing ground. For the moment, he was only concerned with one thing as he was cutting his way through swarms of Clockworks to find his brother. He finally came upon a sort of circular clearing, littered with Clockwork body parts, and a bloodied Argoein standing at the center as more Clockworks swept into him from different sides. Geiox charged in, beating away as many of the enemy as he could.

"What are you doing you fool, you're going to get in the way here!" Argoein yelled while disposing of two Clockwork soldiers.

"Say what you will Argoein, but I know it's you! I won't let our family be torn apart again!"

There was an explosion above them as another airship came down in flames from the Gigas' beam weapon.

"That makes seven. The fleet is being ripped apart. Nobody but Atrys can form a shield strong enough to withstand a shot from the Gigas. Even then, the question becomes how many." Argoein commented, tearing the head off one Clockwork soldier nearby.

"He has already taken two direct shots for other ships."

Some minutes passed while the brothers fought side by side against never ending waves of the mechanical foot soldiers. Argoein looked up and noticed that the flagship was on a path away from the battle.

"What do you suppose he's up to?" Geiox asked.

"Our time is up." Argoein answered.

The Gigas' one glowing eye began to gather large amounts of energy, and then released it. A giant beam was on a direct path for Bobor until the flagship flew to the line of fire. The light shield surrounding the ship dropped after seconds of withstanding the force, allowing the rest of the attack to punch the ship in half. The lights of several boards could be seen in the distance, only one of which continued shakily onward to Flaris.

"So that's it then." Argoein said. "In a few minutes the Gigas will build its power for the blast that will destroy the fortress, and much of Flaris with it. If they don't get that cannon up soon, we've lost."

"No! We just need to stop it ourselves somehow. We're the closest to the Gigas. Maybe we can do something."

"Sounds almost like suicide, but at this point, I guess it wouldn't matter if it were. I'll clear the way, you just move quickly."

With that, Argoein began carving his way through the crowd to the Clockwork behemoth, with his older brother close behind.

"The flagship is down! The Gigas is in range to fire on us already!"

"Damn! How long before it fires again?"

"It will need to charge for another three minutes at least sir."

"Then we have two to get Bobor's Light up and running!"

"Repairs are mostly done, but in it state, we'll probably only be able to get one shot at about thirty percent power. Will that be enough?"

"It's better than nothing."

"What about Lady Cerand sir?"

"She has protected us all with her life more times than I can count. Let us protect her for a change!"

Chears rang out in the canon room. Meanwhile, Lady Cerand lay in bed in her chambers getting occasional reports through the few guardsmen still aboard the fortress.

"The flagship?"

"Destroyed ma'am. Reports say that several escaped…"

"Sir Yob?"

"No word."

"Thank you. Please, return to your family, they are going to need you now more than ever."

The soldier bowed deeply, before leaving the room. Lady Cerand sat herself up with great effort in her bed and tried to walk, but collapsed just outside of it. She felt an arm around her waist and looked up at her helper as he threw her arm over his shoulder, lifting her to a stand.

"Atrys…"

Tears came to her eyes as she looked at her burnt and beaten love's face.

"I've failed Dwin."

"We both have."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them.

"I also failed you, Atrys."

"How can you say such a thing?"

"I…should have…been more…"

Atrys stopped her with a finger over her lips.

"I love your devotion, your love, toward Flaris. I don't need reassurances. I never have. I chose to devote my life to yours and I have no regrets. I love you Dwin, as you love Flaris and its people."

"Thank you. Now…I'd like to look at the city, one last time."

The two made their way arm in arm to the nearest balcony facing northward. Dwin Cerand looked out upon the city she loved so much, then outward to the very thing that would destroy it.

"I want to protect it Atrys. Just once more before I go, but I am too weak alone."

"Then it is a good thing, that you aren't alone."

The lovers looked deep within each others eyes just as the Gigas' attack had prepared, firing a beam of energy toward Flaris. Atrys and Dwin held each other closely, and when their foreheads touched, the entire fortress began to glow white.

"Gods, we're too late!" Geiox exclaimed watching as the beam streaked across the sky on a destructive path toward Boboor.

"Wait…what's that light?"

The fortress glowed more intensely, and just as the beam was about to enter over Flaris city, a great red light shield enveloped the entire city.

"What is this?"

"It's Lady Cerand you fool! She's giving us our chance. Is that damned cannon charged?"

"Yes sir!"

"Fire!" The chief engineer shouted.

Bobor's Light grew blue with energy, and shook the space around it before letting out one shot, then collapsing. The beam from the Gigas ceased just as the shield around the city faded away. Bobor's final attack flew directly into the Clockwork monster and there was a great explosion.

"Thank you Lady Cerand…now, did that do it?" The engineer whispered.

The Gigas collapsed and with the explosion, chunks of its body rained down all about the field. A plate of iron from the giant was about to crash upon Geiox as he stared still at the fortress Bobor, when his brother stepped in destroying it with a punch.

"Would you pay attention? Or do you want to get yourself killed?"

Argoein barely got the words out when he felt something pierce his chest. A look of shock entered Geiox's face as it was covered in his brother's blood. They both looked down, to find one of the Clockwork soldiers had plunged a bladed hand through him from behind. Argoein gritted his demonic teeth, grabbing behind him, he broke the blade off at the source, then impaled the soldier with its own weapon after pulling it from himself. Soon after, two more soldiers entered, piercing Argoein from both sides. He fell to his knees, coughing up black ooze. Geiox finally came to and disposed of both Clockworks. Argoein fell forward into the earth and Geiox knelt beside his body, turning him over, he cast a shield about them both.

"Why? I don't understand. You said before…"

"I sold my soul brother. Not my heart."

"What?"

"Do you remember our mother and father?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Well, I don't. all I remember is Targos, you, and…I couldn't save her. The cabin was attacked by demons driven mad, and I froze. I watched them tear her apart."

"That…is that why…"

"I swore to do what it took to become strong. I never wanted to see another person I loved die. Now, after all that….and I'm just as helpless as before. I'm…sorry…brother…"

"No…you can't die now Argoein. We've just become a family again. I can't lose my little brother all over again! Argoein!"

The general of Saint Morning tried in vain to revive his soulless brother as the Clockwork soldiers began chipping away at the light shield. He faintly heard the familiar voices of the smiths Boboku and Boboko coming to him as they were trying to break their way through the enemy masses.

"Geiox, get out of there! The cannon didn't work, the Gigas is not down yet!"

As the hulking metal monster stirred to life, so too did Geiox's fury. He lifted his sword and it began shaking with power. Suddenly his sword appeared to grow to four times its length as Geiox swung it in a wide circle, cutting down all the Clockworks surrounding him. He looked up at the Gigas and let out a roar before launching the sword directly at it. There was a bright flash when the sword struck its target and an explosion.

When finally the light faded and the dust settled, all that was left of the Gigas was its four massive legs. Geiox turned back to his fallen brother, dropping to his knees and cradling his lifeless body in his arms. The smiths arrived, just as more soldiers gathered to strike him down.

The battle between Chen and the Clockwork Mater had left its mark all over Death Island. Where once there were mountains, now were only hills. Forests turned to wastelands, and craters covered the flatlands. Through all this destruction, there was no clear victor ready to emerge.

"Even at this level, we're only slightly stronger, but we're running out of time." Bobor said. "Our binding won't last long enough to win at this rate."

"Then, we've lost? You mean there's nothing we can do?"

"Not entirely." Shadow answered. "While we do bring a body to its full physical and even magical capabilities, we can also do one more thing."\

"Shadow…"

"We can release all the energy of the spirit we're bound to all at once, like an explosion. With the two of us, and even your help Chen, this war could still be won."

"But you'll die Chen." Bobor added.

"You're sure it will be enough?" Chen asked after a moment passed.

"Yes." Shadow answered.

"Wait, Chen, there may be another way. If we…"

"No Bobor. You said so yourself. There's no time. What do I do Shadow?"

"Just make sure he can't get away from you. Bobor and I can handle the rest."

"Right." Chen quickly dashed toward his enemy, narrowly avoiding the Clockwork's fingers as they stretched across the field to find him. Chen got close enough to send the master into the air with a punch, then grab him up midair, and guide them both back down into the hole leading into the depths of the island.

"What are you doing number nine?"

"I'm sorry Mikyel. It looks like, I can't keep that promise after all…" Chen thought.

Light began to fill the tunnel as the two mechanized bodies plummeted deeper and deeper, until they reached the end of the tunnel, and the light exploded.

Mepstet looked on from the ship at the hole his comrade had just flew down. Suddenly the entire island began to shatter, and light poured out from the cracks reaching outward from that very hole.

"Gods…evasive maneuvers!" The man shouted.

The entire island was enveloped in a ball of light and flame, as the ship was battered by howling winds. The tempest subsided, and when Mepstet regained his feet, he looked out in awe at the sky where Death Island had been.

"Chen!" He roared, mounting a board.

Robner searched all that day and night through the floating debris looking for evidence of his survival, all the while, completely unaware that the war was won, and he was the sole witness to their victory.


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

All across Roika, the Scavengers were busy cleaning up all the leftover Clockwork pieces after the destruction of the master. Each city held its own celebration ceremony save for Flaris. While they were having their own ceremony, even with victory obtained, any celebrations were bitter sweet. The now ashen grey bodies of Dwin Cerand and Atrys Yob were buried together on the nearest hill with the greatest view of the city they gave everything to protect. Every citizen of Flaris wept for the loss of their two greatest champions and saviors.

Shortly after this ceremony, far to the north, on a single island isolated over the continent, Mikyel was accompanied by Mepstet in taking remains of Death Island to make a small grave. The headstone was made of bits of melded iron, and bore only the single name of Chen.

"You told me you were coming back. You promised me Chen." Mikyel whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Make sure the generals are all on standby."

"My lord?"

"Well, with the death of Lady Cerand and her love Atrys, Flaris is in desperate need of a new leader. So, I believe I shall take it upon myself to help liberate them. Do you object?"

"N…no Lord Ashel."

"Good, now please leave."

"Yes sire."

After the doors closed, a familiar voice echoed in Ashel's vast quarters.

"You waste not time at all."

Ashel spun around and smiled, though clearly shocked.

"You know, most people believed you dead. I admit I did too Nelo Rohe. You surprise me, both with your survival ability, and your ability to get in here undetected. Now what business does a Scavenger of Flaris have with me?"

"I am tired you know."

"Tired?"

"Tired of the struggle. The never ending struggle of evil and good. The constant balance that must be maintained."

"What are you going on about?"

"I thought I had the answer, to stop it all, but I couldn't do it. But I found the answer. I was wrong before. It wasn't in my heart to end it all. Now as my final act, I will just have to balance one more thing."

"Nelo, if you're here to speak in riddles…"

"Lady Cerand and Atrys Yob were both great forces for good. What greater equalizer would there be for this world than for me to remove you from it?"

"Excuse me?" Ashel almost laughed. "Everyone knows that you are a greater than average swordsman Nelo. But, as one of the most informed people on the planet, you should know, my powers are far beyond your own."

"My last act will be to realign the scales. Let the world do as it will after that." Nelo said, with a steady pace toward Ashel.

"You would dare? Burn then!"

Ashel waved his spear out in front of him and a wall of flame engulfed Nelo half was across the room.

"Such impudent…no!" Ashel's eyes widened with fear as a figure emerged from the flames.

The figure though, was no longer that of Nelo Rohe's. Ashel dropped to his knees, unable to move, as the glowing multi colored being approached.

"Ip…Ipuli." Ashel whispered as the god placed one hand on his forehead.

"Freedom…is mine." He said before filling the room with a blinding light.

In the hills, to the southeast of Saint Morning. Geiox stood at the remains of his old family cabin with a man in all blood red armor. The two men stared at the four graves there, one of which was fresh. Suddenly they saw a light, far into the horizon.

"That's coming from Saint Morning!" Geiox said.

"It is a shame that there was no time for us to take Argoein for questioning ourselves. I know he interested you a great deal, didn't he my lady?" Elleon, the leader of West Darkon said while staring out at the Clockwork debris. "My queen, what's wrong?"

"Nothing at all Elleon. As a matter of fact, now it would seem that the loss of that man will not impact me so greatly at all." The goddess of darkness smiled.

Flari Pang stopped suddenly as his companion doubled over and had to balance himself on a nearby tree.

"No…Ipuli, you didn't."

"Bobor?" Flari asked. "What's wrong? Is it over?"

"My dear friend Flari. I am afraid it is only the beginning."

**End**


End file.
